BrickHouse
by GreatDarkNoodleKing
Summary: Told from Jo's perspective. First TD story I've written... Going off of all the subtle hints in the show. Jo notices Brick's constant staring and how he's always right where she is and begins to wonder if he has a crush on her. After getting to know him and spending so much time with him, though, will she be able to keep herself from developing one on him in return? JoXBrick
1. Chapter 1

**Well, let's see if this works out… First time trying an actual Total Drama story… Um… It's pretty heavily Jock, so… Well…. Whatever, I guess… (Jo's Perspective) Oh, and please note, every scene of Brick staring is absolutely one-hundred percent true. Watch the first episode again, I've watched it four times in two days and I've now noted at least six separate scenes of Brick just glancing at Jo when he should be looking in other directions. Why? I'm not sure, but those moments seem to be extremely subtle hints of Jock, so I'm goin' with 'em!**

**Brick-house**

_Chapter One- Bigger, Badder, Brutal-er!_

The air was chilling as it hit my face, I scowled against it and continued my gaze forward, and then I heard what sounded like shouting. Turning my attention to the red-head next to me, I growled lowly, "Stay outta my way if you value your kiwis…" I added the kiwis part because I thought maybe that would make him even more convinced that just because I was a girl didn't mean I wasn't a force to be reckoned with.

He had been leaning on the railing of the boat transporting us to Total Drama Island, but when I spoke, he stood straight. "Right back atcha," he said in a tone just as cold as my own, then he proceeded to sniff his own armpit. Gross, much? Although, what he had said did irritate me a little- what had he meant by that? I scowled at him even harder, as my mind processed his insult. My scowling was interrupted when I heard someone shouting. A dark skinned boy in a jersey was shouting something about gorgeous- then he kissed his own bicep. I guess gorgeous was himself…?

I looked back at the red-head and frowned when I saw he was watching the others near us. Scowling at him was enjoyable- gave me a chance to flex the muscles in my forehead. What was so interesting about the others? Looking, I chuckled with amusement as I saw one boy with black hair drop a girl with red pigtails to the ground. Other people's misery was always so funny. The boy was saluting to someone, saying his full name. I take it he heard the shouting noise too.

There was a large boy in a sweater near the saluting boy; he was one of the quietest people on the entire boat ride, considering a girl in a pink sweater hadn't shut up about her some odd relatives and what they had invented. Quiet was preferred to the non-stop chatter… I gave up on watching the rest of the contestants and I went back to glaring forward, that is, until our boat exploded.

Colliding with the icy water was a wonderful wake-up. I grinned and began swimming instantly. Being a triathlete I was the most physically fit one of the group, or at least it seemed that way- half of these kids didn't even know how to swim!

I pushed the pink sweater girl out of my way along with red and shouted for them to make way. I added in the triathlete part just before pushing down on the head of the game-junkie in the back of the boat. I used him like a mount and flipped through the air: whether I impressed anyone with this stunt, I didn't care. It made the trip faster- I had to be first to shore!

Stepping onto the sand and gasping softly, I glanced over my shoulder to see the others swimming closer, but no one else on land and I cheered happily. "Woo! That's what I'm talkin' about! First one on the- duh…!" I gaped, seeing the white-blonde-haired girl sitting on a rock with a starfish in her hand. "How did you…?" I began, but then I looked at her and shouted, "You're not even wet!"

She opened her eyes and replied, "Hm? Oh, I took a shortcut…" She made it sound so simple- what kind of shortcut through water makes it so you end up completely dry? I scowled at her- what sort of crap was she pulling?

I noticed the black haired boy from earlier crawl onto the beach- I was slightly impressed that he was the next onto the shore after me and freak girl over there. Of course, crawling and gasping like he was made him seem all the more weak. He lifted one arm, saluted, and said, "Ma'am." Before collapsing into the beach and letting his face lie flat. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the drenched twerp.

Then suddenly out of the water, it looked like the string bean from the boat was floating out. I was wide-eyed in shock: was this how the freaky girl had done it? But then underneath him I saw a hat, then a head, and I saw he was just standing on the sweater silent boy. Although, my mouth was hanging open and I watched them in shock- how? After they walked off, I glanced down and nearly choked on stifled laughter at the black-haired boy's face. It was priceless!

Slowly everyone else began clambering onto the shore, with one exception- game-junkie… Maybe pushing him under wasn't such a good idea; I can't afford any lawsuits… Yet… I was standing and shaking my head, letting the water splatter and fly from my hair before I ran my fingers through it a couple of times- it was still dripping, but it was better than it had been I guess… I thought about sitting on a rock, but I didn't. I walked off and noticed the black-haired boy, named Brick: why had I forgotten that? He had announced his name on the boat… Maybe the swim made me forget that…. Either way, he followed me.

I gave him a funny look before coming to a stop and just standing there on the beach, looking around. The red-head wasn't far behind Brick, but this guy really seemed intent on staying near me. He sat on a rock across from where I stood- creep… Red-head, who introduced himself as Scott to Brick, stood next to him. Great, now I'm stuck near both of them… Of course, I could always walk over to where the other contestants were, but then again I liked my solitude. The others all seemed so…weak…

Suddenly the loudspeaker above us boomed in the voice of Chris. He told us that he hoped we enjoyed our swim; I scoffed at that and I saw Scott roll his eyes. Nobody appreciates the humor, Chris… He said we had to run a path through the woods but we should try not to upset the wildlife.

"Yeah, we wouldn't wanna upset the bunnies…!" I heard the snarky remark behind me, it sounded like the boy in the jersey, but I didn't feel like looking back at him. And lucky us, then the loudspeaker set off an incredibly loud horn. The horn was swiftly followed by an immense roaring and trees toppling over. Each of us began to run as fast as we could through that path.

I quickly went from the back of the group to the front. I found the jersey boy, apparently named Lightning, because he kept speaking in the third person, didn't have much of a hard time keeping up with me. Too bad for him I'm a triathlete and I'm gonna get first place. I glanced back once to see where the others were, and to my dismay I saw Brick and Scott each not far behind Lightning and I. Were they following me? Had I made an enemy already in Freckle-face? I furrowed my brow- seemed feasible, but that didn't explain why Brick was so keen on following me. I hadn't said a word to him yet…had I?

The two were actually very very close to me at one point, but thankfully I began sprinting as fast as I could and they just couldn't keep up. Lightning chased after me, but he just couldn't get closer than a foot behind me for the rest of the run. I saw the finish line and grinned when I crossed under it first.

Skidding to a stop, I whispered, "yes…!" Then I turned to Lightning and said with a grin, "Sorry you had to lose to a girl."

"What girl?" he replied, stepping forward after glancing around. He placed one hand into the air, and said, "Lightning never loses bro…!"

I scowled darkly. Bro… Great, another one saying I was male… Pushing that aside, I turned my cold gaze to Chris, who drove up to us. "Captain Modesty," he said, addressing Lightning, "Two steps left, you're team A." I had my arms folded across my chest and I looked up at the host expectantly. "Yo, Jo, move right, you're team B." I had already begun walking before he even finished, well, more like stomping.

Suddenly Scott showed up, gasping for air, and Chris said, "Pitt sniffer, team A." I smirked- he had noticed it too. And then Brick ran up behind Freckle-face, placing his hands on his knees and buckling forward slightly. Chris addressed him by mock-saluting and saying in a serious drill sergeant tone, "Corporal Brick-house, team B."

Brick-house? I chuckled at the nickname. Brick saluted in return, saying, "Sir, yes sir." Just before getting knocked to the ground by the silent sweater boy. Chris greeted him by referring to him as Silent Treatment. Again, I chuckled to myself.

Brick got up, dusted himself off, and began walking over to where I stood. "Bubble boy, team B." I heard Chris say. I saw the toothpick hop off the big guy's hood and start heading our way- what was he, a leach? Brick stood beside me and Cameron stopped a little ways away from him. Why'd Brick choose to stand literally three inches away from me? I was irritated enough as it was already; did he not get the memo? Leave. Me. Alone.

After a little while the teams were put together. Chris announced that team A would be known as the Toxic Rats. After Lightning went on a rant about himself, of course… Sam was the only one who smiled and laughed about it. My team was apparently referred to as the Mutant Maggots. None of us reacted to that one…

"Um, what's with all the references to chemical waste?" Mike asked, I had ignored him in the beginning, but he did point out a strange coincidence. I looked at Mike, but I noticed almost immediately that Brick was looking at me. I frowned at him and he looked at Chris, I quickly followed his gaze.

"Relax, everything will make sense eventually," he said before laughing maniacally. Everyone exchanged glances on each team in fear of Chris.

Scott asked what the thing in the forest was, something plaguing all of our minds, and I looked at Cameron as he spoke. "I'm pretty sure that cry does not belong to any known animal species!" he shouted, holding his head. I wasn't looking at him, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Brick look at me. I twitched when he did. Of course, Brick was the least of my worries when suddenly the trees began falling and the roaring started back up. Terror flowed through my veins, but I was excited to see what Chris had in store for us.

Out of the bushes hopped a naked squirrel. Scowling, I said, "Hey, it's just a stupid squirrel!" Dakota 'awed' over it, but then it blinked its sideways eyelids one at a time and she squeaked with fear. Dawn asked what was wrong with it- Chris had called her the aura whisperer; I didn't even want to know why.

"While we were away, I rented out the island to a nice, family oriented bio hazardous waste-disposal company. Sweet people," Chris explained, sounding all too happy, "But, the waste is having a teensy bit of an impact on the flora and fawna..." Then the squirrel ate a butterfly- that's a teensy bit to Chris, huh?

Dakota said it was weird and she wanted one, until it roared at her and shot lasers from its eyes- oh yeah, definitely a teensy impact… She ran and jumped into Sam's arms as Chris laughed.

Chris informed us that we got rewards for our little jog. "Jo, because you made it up here before anyone else, your team gets a trampoline!" Chef was bouncing on our reward, which didn't make much sense to me but I figured it had to be worth something… He said the opposite team got a hack saw, and Chef fell off the trampoline. Lightning laughed at him, Chef threw the saw and it hit him in the face, I laughed at Lightning, and then the trampoline flew out of nowhere and crushed me. It hurt, but I've felt worse…

After a brief moment of Chris yelling, I felt two firm hands take my shoulders and they helped lift me to my feet. Looking up, I saw Brick and he asked if I was okay, calling me ma'am again. I pushed his hands away and grumbled that I was fine and that I didn't need his help. I heard something about a bomb and Mike asked if Chris would blow us up again.

Well, actually, he said, "He won't really blow us up again, right?"

Chris popped up between Mike and Red and asked, "Won't I?" Then he did his schpheal about commercials and we all followed him to where our challenge would begin. Once again, Brick seemed to be staying close by my side. He was in the military, I think, or at least a cadet- maybe he had been impressed by my flip over Sam's head and placing first in the run? Then again, I was the most athletic girl in this competition, probably most athletic overall, and for a military kid that must be intriguing if nothing else. Maybe he saw me as valuable- which he should. Everyone should. I'm the fastest, strongest, and the best. My team is lucky to have me here.

When we finally got to start our challenge, I was anything but thankful when Chris told us there were bombs on our totems, hanging above our heads, which we had to cut down. It wouldn't be too much of a challenge for me personally, but having to deal with everyone else being dead weight would only slow me down.

Chris gave the okay and I climbed onto a rock, shouted, "Yeah, let's do this!" I jumped onto the trampoline, but hadn't thought of where my feet were aiming me and I flew into the river. I had to swim back out and see what was going on with my team.

Cameron was rambling about me hitting the trampoline when Anne Maria, or Tan-in-a-can pushed him, saying, "Back off, I want a crack at this…" She jumped off the rock, ignoring Cameron's warning and bounced straight into the totem, slamming into it with a loud thud. Everyone went 'ooh' because it obviously hurt.

I grinned as I watched her bounce back down, then back up, then back down, and after the third time my smile fell. Once or twice was funny, but this was getting old. Finally I shoved the trampoline out of the way with my foot and she landed on the ground and stayed there. I saw the other team coming up with some strange plan, which wasn't good for us. Luckily, after moving the trampoline back, Brick jumped off the rock and onto the trampoline. He shouted something, I'm not sure but it sounded like charge, and he went straight up, grabbing onto an axe lodged in the bottom of the totem.

He started shouting and kicking his legs once he was up there. He must've realized he had no way to get back down. I groaned, "Good grief…!"

Beside me, Anne Maria spat, "Sheesh, what a baby!" I glanced at her, then back up at Brick. He had given up flailing his legs and he looked down at all of us. I folded my arms across my chest and scowled at him. I heard Mike shouting in a strangely low voice that didn't seem to fit him, and then I smiled a little to see Brick beginning to try and dislodge the axe. Although, being upside-down, I don't think it was really working…

His dog tags hung behind his head and then to my horror, I saw a naked squirrel scamper out onto the branch closest to Brick. If this one was like the squirrel from earlier, we were all in danger. And then Mike had to be the great jack-ass and throw a rock at it. It immediately began firing lasers at us, and we all had to scramble and try and get out of its range.

It turned its attention to Brick and began firing at him. He was shouting at it, at one point I heard him say "Not the crew cut". Those dog tags came in handy- the lasers reflected off of them and shot up, splicing the branch our totem was tied to, causing it and Brick to come crashing down.

We all ran to him, and I whispered, "Yes…!" Brick looked up at me as I smiled at him- looks like he might be worth something after all…

He smiled up at me, looking elated to hear all this praise, briefly before saluting all of us and saying, "Mission accomplished." And then suddenly the totem fell over and on top of him. I winced at the idea of the feeling, but my team quickly began trying to get it off of him. I did most of the lifting- my team's a bunch of weaklings! Brick thanked us for helping him, and he got to his feet.

We pushed the totem into the river and hopped on as we began floating along at a quick pace. I turned my head around and I shouted, "They're gaining on us!"

Brick, who I just noticed was sitting directly behind me, said, pointing one finger forward, "It's my duty to inform you ma'am that we have bigger problems…" I turned my head back around and inhaled sharply at the sight of the waterfall.

"My first waterfall!" Cameron shouted eagerly.

Mike shouted in his old man voice, "And maybe our last!" Just before we plummeted off the edge. Everyone was screaming- but my head was clear enough to watch ahead of us and see that as long as our angle didn't change we'd be fine.

Upon impact, at first the thud rattled me, but after we began flying down the hillside it felt normal again. To my dismay, however, the other team sped past us. Scowling, I shouted, "Hey! How'd they get in front of us?" I was angry, but there was no way for us to catch up, so we just had to keep sliding down the hill.

After at least thirty seconds, we cleared the hill, our totem flying and my entire team falling off and landing at various locations. Our totem exploded, along with the Rats' cabin. Chris was talking, but all I could hear was my pulse pounding in my ears- every part of my body hurt. Stupid totem…

"As the only ones with a cabin still standing, the maggots win the first challenge!" Chris shouted. I was standing, my eyes closed with pain, and I lifted one arm weakly, grumbling a soft yes before letting my arm drop down and then my entire body. I blocked Chris out and rubbed my leg.

Eventually I figured I may as well take the lead- I got to my feet and began trying to get the rest of my team to do the same. Brick was easy- he stood up after I pulled at his shirt and told him to get at attention. Anne Maria was tougher- she complained every second I tried to lift her. Zoey and Mike helped each other up- the sappy couple… And Cameron had to be carried to the cabin. Some team.

Anne Maria and Zoey were in the girls' side of our cabin, groaning about their bruises and their hair and how the river ride had messed up their mascara. Getting annoyed was an understatement; I got up and left the room. I sat outside the cabin, rubbing my leg again- it would bruise, sure, but I didn't care. I watched as the Rats came back to their cabin- with one less member. Fine, at least now the teams were even in number...

I heard a door creak open and glancing back I rolled my eyes when I saw Brick. He smiled at me, walked up behind me and asked, "So who'd they vote off?"

"Looks like Chatty," I replied, resting my head on my palm and watching as Scott hit Lightning and laughed when Lightning thought it was Sam. At least my competition wasn't much better than my own team. That reminded me, I quickly glanced at Brick- the cadet who's probably had experience in all sorts of trying tasks. I guess he'd be good to have under my wing…

Brick smiled at me again, apparently he noticed I was looking at him, but when he smiled, I didn't return it. After sitting there in awkward tension, I got up and went back into the cabin- if he was just going to stand there staring at me then I would rather deal with the blabbering beauty queens. First challenge over and done, hopefully tomorrow's wouldn't be too terrible…

**And that was the first one… Don't worry; there will be Jock, I think… I hope… I'm just going off what I saw first. Because I can't ignore the obvious.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, continuing on with the second part… Jock… What not. Unfortunately this is the episode I've watched the least. And I can't get any clips from the second part because of copyrights… So if I missed Brick staring scenes, someone please let me know.**

**Brick-House- **Chapter Two- Truth or LaserShark

It had been a strange few days since we first came to the island. Every morning I'd swear I'd hear an incredibly loud trumpet blaring military music, but then after a few seconds it would stop. I was first awake of the girls, because I always ran 5k in the morning, and they didn't run at all. I think Brick was the first of the boys awake, because after I'd head out of the girls' side I'd see him head out of the guys' side. The food here was absolutely terrible- yet he really seemed to enjoy eating it… Freak…

I didn't need to eat much before I'd always head out and begin running. I think today was a challenge day; one of the cameramen was tailing me… Getting irritated by my follower, I had begun sprinting at top speed, shutting my eyes tightly. I should have kept my eyes open, closing them was stupid- I ran directly into the cadet and was thrown back a few feet, each of us shouting, "Ow!"

My arms against the ground, I grumbled softly before pushing up and placing one hand on my forehead, calmly saying, "Just did my morning 5k run, you?" He had his hand on his head too, but when he heard my question Brick smiled and took his hand away.

Pointing at me, he replied with a grin, "Eight k."

I scowled. Oh no, you're not going to be better than me! Quickly getting to my feet, I started, "I mean I did an 8k warm-up, then 5k at a full sprint." I smirked at him as I spoke. He had gotten to his feet almost immediately after I did, and he moved toward me.

"My entire run was uphill!" he stated, pointing at me and standing ever so slightly taller than me. Somehow I didn't believe him.

I quickly said, still grinning, "H-yeah, uphill with my eyes **shut**…!" I had my arms crossed against my chest as I argued with him.

Brick quickly retorted, "I ran backwards with earplugs!" He was glaring at me just as hard as I was glaring at him.

I blinked, raised an eyebrow and asked quickly, "Why earplugs?"

"I dunno!" he shouted in response, making the most derpy face I've ever seen in my entire life. It was actually kind of adorable, because he had just inadvertently admitted he was lying. I won this little argument hands down.

Smiling and rolling my eyes, I said, "Team Maggot is lucky to have us. _We_ won the challenge yesterday," I then placed my hand on his chest, making myself seem friendlier and more like I actually meant what I was saying, "_We'll_ carry them all the way to victory…" I noticed him looking at where my hand was until I finished what I was saying.

He looked slightly nervous- could he tell I was lying? I moved my hand for a moment before pulling it away from him- his chest was incredibly solid; Brick was definitely a Brick-House… Oh, what was I thinking? Of course he's going to be built! He's a military cadet…!

Grumbling to myself, I walked to the confessionals to take away some of my grief. Grabbing a stick, I stomped away from the cadet and into the outhouse with the camera poorly taped to the door.

I sat myself down and began, "_I'll_ carry them to victory…!" I had pointed at myself and then I continued, "Just being nice so that aptly named lump of cadet meat will be loyal. But when the time comes," I took my stick and snapped it, only to receive a splinter to my hand. I snarled, "Ow! Splinter!" Glaring at the stick, I growled, "You little…!"

I threw the stick into the toilet, then I sat and thought for a moment. Had I said Brick was aptly named…? What in the world was I talking about? I rubbed my forehead as I pondered why my lips had moved but my brain hadn't registered what had been said… After a few thoughts about it, I figured what I had meant was that Brick was solid, but stupid- like a brick… I glared at the camera before I stepped out.

I hadn't gotten far when I heard the blaring loudspeaker and Chris's voice. "Up an' at'em my little morning glories!" he said. My team quickly gathered to his left- Brick stood directly beside me, but I didn't let that bother me, Chris was all that mattered right now. I was determined to win the million no matter what. Chris said it was time for today's challenge, to which Lightning shouted, "What?"

"But Lightning hasn't had his DPA!" he whined. Nobody knew what he meant, to be honest, I didn't really care. Dakota complained of not getting enough sleep; what a bunch of whiners.

After a few seconds or so, Chris said, "You can catch up on your sleep after the challenge, right this way to the Bay of Dismay!" He pointed to his left, off of his four-wheeler. I groaned and lowered my head slightly, noting that almost everyone else did the same.

Chris confiscated Dakota's phone and Sam's game, to which I grinned happily. Neither one of them looked pleased, and that made me happy. He told us that our humiliation awaited and everyone began walking. Noticing Brick beginning to walk to the front, I kept my distance and stuck at the end of the group, walking alongside String Bean.

Zoey and Mike were talking, I think he mentioned something about having to marry her and I rolled my eyes; they really were the sappy couple. Sam was trying to apologize to Dakota for something or other and she rejected him, I think. I smiled when I saw Sam sighing with defeat.

String Bean began talking to me, and as much as I didn't want to, I listened. "I hope this isn't another physical challenge… I'd prefer something more… academic," he said, holding out his hands as he spoke.

I scowled at him and said quickly, "I bet you do, toothpick. I'm surprised that scrawny neck can even support that giant head." I insulted him- he just made it so easy.

"My greatest strengths are mental," he said, looking annoyed. I didn't care if he was mad at me- I didn't care if I made friends or enemies in this game, that wasn't the point of the contest. The point of the contest was to win.

"Well you're mental if you think you can win Total Drama without getting physical," I growled, rolling my eyes at him as I spoke. He frowned and looked dejected- too bad for him. So then I added in quickly, "Just stay outta my way." And then he looked away and pouted.

I started walking a little bit faster now, but not fast enough to catch up with the front of the group. I was still trying to let my message to the brick-house sink in. He needed to think that I valued him: I guess I sorta did value him, but he wasn't better than me. No one here was. I was the best. They'd all have to settle for being average.

After a little while of walking Chris led us to a bay that had bleacher-like objects set up near shore. Tan-in-a-can walked onto the top row before me and I followed her quickly. I sat in one of the three seats and quickly took hold of the harness provided. I snapped the buckles and then I looked around. Brick was seated to my left, and he smiled warmly at me when he noticed I was looking at him. I stuck out my lower lip and furrowed my brow darkly- I wasn't his friend, in spite of our little morning encounter.

"You weren't in the front this time," he said softly, looking me over before buckling himself in. I didn't respond, I just rolled my eyes and looked toward Chris.

"Welcome to the getting to know you trivia game challenge!" he said, smiling. I blinked a couple of times, when had Chris changed into his baby blue tux? It couldn't have taken us more than ten minutes to walk down here, yet he managed to change his clothes. He then asked, "Everyone strapped in all nice an' snug?"

Freckle-face groaned across from us and said, "Too snug…! It's cutting into my shoulders…!"

Chris laughed and said, "Yeah, children sized harnesses will do that." Chris then addressed the camera and explained, "I'll be asking the players embarrassing personal questions, and I mean _majorly humiliating_. If the player I'm talking about hits the poorly wired buzzer and owns their humiliation before the time runs out, their team gets a point. First team to five wins part one, and a distinct advantage in part two." I smiled at the end of that- I liked the sound of a distinct advantage.

"But, if no one owns up, this happens," Chris said, holding up a remote and pressing a big red button on it. And the next thing I or anyone on my team knew, we were dunked under the water; the whole bleacher was! I held my breath and glanced around nervously. Suddenly a strange shark with arms and legs appeared- everyone opened their mouths and began screaming. Lucky for us, Chris let us back up before it could eat any one of us.

Upon resurfacing, everyone coughed and choked and spit out water. Mike quickly yelled, "There's some kind of two-legged shark monster down there!"

I looked at Chris like he was crazy as he responded, "You mean Fang?" He acted like he was talking about a pet dog…! He laughed about how toxic waste can mess with stuff underwater and I grumbled before sitting back in my spot and grumbling angrily to myself.

Chris explained that if one team gets dunked the other can steal the point by guessing who the loser is. Or something along those lines… "Guess right, and you get a point, guess wrong and this happens!" he said before dunking the rats. I laughed at them as I saw bubbles float up to the surface- they must've encountered Fang as well.

He brought them back up and began the game. "To the Rats, now listen carefully," he said, "Who did this on the one and only date they ever had?" On the top panel a question mark appeared and then it farted. Obviously that was the question…

Everyone began laughing. It was humorous to hear of other's embarrassment. I scanned the faces of the other team quickly and saw Sam was the only one not laughing- he was guilty. Unfortunately, he owned up to it and hit the buzzer.

Chris turned to us and asked, "Who wet their pants on the first _and_ last day of school?"

Mike immediately spoke, "Woah, one of us is a pants' wetter?"

Glancing to my left, I saw Brick was completely red in the face. Smirking, I said in a mocking tone, "He who sweats it, wets it." He looked at me and I said sternly, "Team before pride, maggot."

Brick glanced away shamefully before closing his eyes and buzzing in. He hit the buzzer and received a shock, saying, "Ow…! Fine it was me…" I smiled at him happily- he just gave us our first point with that little secret. Brick immediately hid behind the bleacher in front of him as the Rats began laughing.

"And it's one all!" Chris announced. I cheered yes and lifted one arm happily. I looked back to Brick and saw Zoey turn to him.

"Aw thanks Brick, I know that must've been tough…" she said sweetly. I smiled because as soon as she had said it, Brick's face lost a fair amount of its color and he started sitting up straight again.

Chris then turned back to the Rats and asked, "Whose real name is really, Beverly?"

Brick hopped up in his seat and quickly argued, "That's not an embarrassing question!" He was obviously upset having such a secret exposed when the next was hardly worth anything to anyone. "Who cares if a girl's real name is Beverly?" he asked, looking angry and folding his arms across his chest. I just smiled- such a fuss for something so pointless.

The big silent guy buzzed in, to my surprise, but Chris dunked them because he didn't say anything. Dawn argued that B never spoke, but Chris didn't care. Scott swam back up after they resurfaced and said that his team could win without him.

Anne Maria beside me quickly said, "If he's not playin' then I'm not eithah." She fiddled with her harness, but was unsuccessful.

Sam asked that since he was humiliated if he could go. And Mike hopped up, ignoring Chris, saying, "I'm with Anne Maria, we should stop!" He twitched and laughed nervously before saying, "N-not that I've got any secrets to hide." He laughed and I scowled darkly at him.

"Sit Down, Pointy…!" I spat as I smacked him down into the bleacher, "I'm not losing this game!"

Red quickly shouted at me, "Woah, take it easy!" I wanted to retort back at that, but she wasn't worth it. She was only saying something because I had assaulted her lover. Chris shouted at us because we weren't listening to him, and when Scott said he was leaving, he dunked all of us.

After much too long of a wait, I unhooked my harness and began swimming away from the bleacher- Chris had left us under for at least 45 seconds, and I could see that others were having a hard time holding their breath. I groaned inwardly and unhooked Cameron, who couldn't do it on his own and helped Anne Maria as well- her rock hair weighed her down. My foot got caught on one of the harness straps, and strangely enough, I couldn't get it off. I felt someone tugging at my arm, and I looked up to find that it was Brick. I wrenched my foot with all my force, and he pulled at me in unison, and finally I was freed. We quickly swam to the surface along with our team.

Chris looked mad, he finally hit the bleacher button and the metal slammed into all of us, knocking me down into the bench portion, and falling directly on top of Brick, with Anne Maria's head landing on my back while her body was halfway on the buzzer portion. I groaned and snapped angrily at her, "Get offa me, you idiot!"

She tried, but was unsuccessful, as usual, and I had to lift myself up, pushing up at least fifty pounds of wet hair thick with hairspray. It wasn't that bad, but considering that I was soaking wet, my hands kept slipping on the metal flooring. Brick gripped my wrists and kept them in place while I pushed Anne Maria up and off; knocking her down into Mike- she could be his problem now!

Quickly sitting up, I groaned and twisted my leg back into the correct position. Brick sat up as well and asked, "Are you alright?"

Looking at my arm, I felt a clear tenderness where I knew it would bruise, before replying coldly, "I'm fine, Brick-house…" I stopped and glanced around at the metal for a moment before saying grudgingly, "Thank you for helping me earlier…"

He blinked and looked at me in a surprised way, but he smiled quickly when he realized I had actually said thank you. I quickly pointed into his face and I spat, "Don't get used to me being nice! It'll never happen again!" He looked scared when I jumped forward and yelled at him, but he nodded after I did.

Chris let us all back onto shore and grumbled that we needed to follow him. What a wonderful way to start the day- nearly getting eaten by a land shark and not getting any advantages in our next challenge.

Chris was explaining the next part of the challenge, about how it was some sort of obstacle course. He said we'd have to do everything with these funky green glasses. I immediately tried them on and complained that you couldn't see out of the worth crap. He basically had reacted by saying that was the point. Seems like I was always first- first place, first to discover who our guilty dunkee was, first to arrive on the island; freaky girl doesn't count; and first to try on the glasses. I was used to being first at everything, though, so I didn't mind it.

Chris was assigning where we would be going in this bizarre looking obstacle course. Lightning and Anne Maria were first, then Brick and Dawn, and ironically Scott and I were next. As if he wasn't following me enough already, Chris was now apparently in on the torture.

The challenge began with Lightning getting kicked by a giant shoe and then it was on. Brick got our mascot- a mutant maggot- and tried valiantly to run ahead. Unfortunately the glasses were screwing with his vision and he ran into everything. He got gooped by the maggot, and ran into a pole I don't know how many times in a row. It was pathetic… And then he got hit by a cannonball, in the face- and he made baby noises as he fell to the platform.

I figured that was it- he was done, but to my pleased surprise, Brick kept crawling and pulling himself forward to where I stood waiting. I think I yelled at him at one point to hurry up, I'm not sure, I was more preoccupied with Dawn getting ahead. He lifted the maggot up and said something about a cat. I think that cannon gave him brain damage…

I ran ahead to my challenge- rolling logs and wrecking balls. It looked daunting, but I was able to run along the logs backwards fairly easily, even with the glasses. And I saw a wrecking ball come at me at the perfect moment- I quickly jumped up and hitched a ride on the metal ball. Once it was at its highest peak, I hopped off and flipped through the air and over to Zoey. I gave her the maggot and I hoped she wouldn't lose for us.

Cameron was at the end of the run, and I scowled when he failed at getting to the finish once. But he won the challenge for us, so I suppose he wasn't all that useless… We were safe and the Rats would be voting someone off once again.

Walking back to the cabins, I noticed a few people go to the confessional. They formed a line, and I went to the washrooms to rinse whatever goop and dirt may have gotten onto me during that last challenge. I may not be girly, but I definitely know that being gross and dirty wasn't enjoyable.

I came back out and went ahead to the girls' side of our cabins. I went into my room and took out a big empty orange sack. Anne Maria gave me a weird look, but I ignored her. I carried the sack out to the beach and proceeded to fill it with sand and rocks and shells. This was my punching bag- it needed to be firm and solid. My mind flashed back to when I had touched Brick's chest, so I smirked to myself as I muttered, "Sure, why not, let's make this punching bag just like Brick. He's my biggest competition here anyway…"

After filling the bag, I hauled it over my shoulder and began jogging out to the forest. I think I heard Lightning remark about how strong I was, but he called me a dude again, and that made it partially an insult. I wasn't girly, sure, but I wasn't a guy. I was attracted to guys- not A guy…!

I found the perfect tree and I tied the human sized punching bag to the tree branch hanging lowest. I struck at it once and grinned at how solid the sand already was- perfect for practicing. In fact, why not start now? I frowned at it for a moment- it didn't feel like home without the picture of Chris's face taped to the bag… I missed that… Oh well, it'll have to do until I can get a picture that really keeps me motivated to beat the living tar out of the punching bag.

After at least five hours I walked back to the cabins. It was dark outside already and I had missed dinner- I wondered if anyone even noticed I was gone, other than Lightning and Spray-head… I walked to the mess hall in the hopes of possibly seeing leftover food; it may taste like crap, but it was still technically food. Gross, bland, tasteless food, but still food.

No one was inside, except for Chef and a few funny looking beetles. I asked calmly, "Any food left?" Chef turned to look at me and shook his head no. I shrugged and walked back out. I wandered to the cabin and I noticed quickly that Pointy and Red were outside on the steps, talking and giggling at each other. I scoffed at the display of affection and rolled my eyes.

I stood and thought for a moment. I went to the opposite team's cabins and knocked on the girls' side door. Dawn quickly came to answer and she asked, "Jo, are you here to talk with me about Brick?"

I blinked. "Brick?" I repeated. She nodded and smiled sweetly. "Uh," I gave her a funny look and replied, "Nooo…. I was wondering if you had some paper and markers or something…"

"Oh," she said, looking a little surprised. She turned around and went into the cabin. When she came back she handed me a sheet of blank paper and several markers. "What do you need them for, might I ask?" she asked in her high-pitched voice.

I had already uncapped the black marker and I glanced at her before replying, "Oh, I was gonna draw a picture for my punching bag- I need something to keep me motivated after all…" She looked upset by what I had said, but I turned back to the blank canvas. I tapped the butt of the marker against my chin as I contemplated who would be best to draw. After thinking on it for a little while, I began drawing Mike and Zoey kissing, with big red hearts above their heads. Crushing love would make training more entertaining.

Dawn spoke behind my shoulder, "You don't have to pretend you enjoy hurting others' chances at happiness just because you feel you'll never find anyone for you…"

My eyes widened and I immediately replied, "I don't worry that I won't find anyone." She smiled a little at me, and I spat, "I know I won't. There's nobody out there who's worth all the crap."

"You don't mean that," she said.

I quickly retorted, "Guys expect perfect girls to wear make-up and to be weak and helpless and like perfect dolls. I'm not like that- no guy wants that. Lightning still thinks I'm a guy, are you kidding? But it's fine. I'm content where I am now…"

Dawn was quiet for a moment before saying, "You do seem to be content by yourself… But winning and being the best isn't everything. It's just what makes you happy- and I'm sure that if you took a look at it, a boy who truly loves you could make you happier than any victory."

I stared out into the darkness. Okay, this girl was freaking me out. I don't do girl talk as it is, but this was just weird…! What was she saying? How did she know all of this about me? Was she like Sierra from the last season? I don't like stalkers…

"Look, Dawn," I said, getting to my feet and turning to talk to her, "I appreciate the concern, but to be honest, I don't want to worry about a boy when I could achieve so much more for myself. I could win this competition- worrying about some guy will only throw me off focus and ruin my chances. And you know what?" she looked eager to hear more, but I quickly stopped that, "I'm not gonna let you get to me either. I'm gonna win this contest no matter what…!" I then gave her back her markers and walked back to the cabin.

I'm sure I just made an enemy in Dawn, but I considered everyone hear my enemy- this wasn't some opportunity to make friends, this was a contest. I sat on the steps of the cabin and rubbed my thumb along the paper in my hand. One thought crossed my mind- why had Dawn immediately asked if I was going to talk to her about Brick? Why'd she want to talk about him? Did Dawn have a crush on Brick or something? There was no way she thought I had a crush on him- that was just stupid. Dawn wasn't dumb- she was weird and spacey, but definitely not dumb.

As my luck seems to have it, every time I get on the subject of the lump of cadet meat, he shows up. Brick came out of the guys' side of the cabin and sat next to me on the steps. I didn't greet him, didn't look at him, didn't do anything to even acknowledge him, and I continued thinking on everything Dawn had said.

"Why do you have a picture of Mike and Zoey kissing?" Brick asked beside me. I blinked myself out of my spell once and I looked at him.

Once I realized he was actually curious and not making fun of me, I replied, "Oh, um, it's my motivation picture for my punching bag… I forgot my picture of Chris back home, so I needed something else that I wanted to punch…"

Brick looked at me, then the drawing, and then asked, "Why don't you like them?"

"It's not them specifically," I replied, "Okay, well I don't really find either of them useful, but that's beside the point… I just get annoyed with them making goo-goo eyes constantly. One of these days their relationship is gonna mess up a challenge and we'll be the ones paying for it…" Brick had smiled when I had said that I didn't find them useful, but his smile faded as I went on.

After sitting in silence for a little while, I finally asked a question that had been plaguing me since we got here. "Why have you been following me?"

He blinked and his cheeks went deep red. "Wh-what?" he asked, glancing around, "What gave you the idea that I was following you?"

"Dude, you've been practically stalking me since we got her. I keep seeing you look at me," I said, putting my head into my hand and looking at the obviously nervous boy.

Brick swallowed and stuttered, "W-well I j-just noticed that y-you were a really athletic g-girl and uh…" Now he seemed to lose his thoughts.

I offered up an idea. "You just thought I might make a good rival…?"

"Uh, y-yeah!" he said, smiling nervously, "You're a great rival!" I smirked at him.

"Alright Dampy-pants," I said, making fun of the challenge from today, "See ya in the morning…" And I got up and walked to bed. I hid the drawing from Anne Maria and Zoey and went to sleep fairly easily.

**Yes, I went ahead and added in my own random scene of Jock-ness…! Woo! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I need motivational music… Mm… Anyone ever notice how Brick's one of the only characters with a unibrow? I think Chef has one but other than that… Hm… I love this episode; I found so many instances of Brick trying to impress Jo, just in the mountain climbing scene alone! Maybe nobody else thinks dislocating a hip or an arm is hot, but apparently Brick thought Jo did. Um, I can't exactly remember the quotes on Mount Looming Tragedy- specifically what Jo and Brick actually said word for word to each other… If someone could help me with that little problem, I'd really appreciate it.**

**Brick-House- **Chapter Three- Ice Ice Baby

Brick and I were now officially established rivals- we were constantly racing and competing in any and all contests we could think of. It was great! Having someone to race was the best kind of motivation! I had actually forgotten to tape the drawing to my punching bag for two days before I had remembered and decided I'd tape a drawing of Brick to it along with Mike and Zoey. My motivation would depend on my mood, I guess…

I'm sure that the cameramen were videotaping every time Brick and I would race around the entire island, and I definitely saw one guy filming us by the steps down to the beach. I always won, so I didn't mind the videotaping; I'd never lose. Brick may have been fit, but he was no match for me!

This morning I had gone to beat my punching bag. I had left before the sun had even come up in the morning and I had headed back when I heard that loud trumpet music. I learned that the music was Brick's alarm clock- Cameron had told me that it was a terrible way to wake up. I didn't really see why; if you were awake, who cares how you woke up?

I walked into the mess hall, along with basically everyone else, and found the line for food started with Brick. He sat at our team's table and began eating the gruel Chef made. Sometimes I swear he actually enjoyed this gross stuff. I got my food and sat next to him, sending him half a smile when he smiled at me. Considering we were rivals, I said with a smirk, "Betcha I can eat faster than you."

He grinned and his face hardened. We silently said go and we began. I shoveled food into my mouth as fast as I could, Brick doing the same- until he swallowed his spoon. He began choking and I sighed. Standing up behind him, I got to do one thing I had wanted to do for a while- I punched Brick's back as hard as I possibly could, saying calmly, "Easy there Jarhead, don't wrench your panties…!"

The spoon hit Mike in the head, as he said something about waffles, and then Brick thanked me. Mike was shouting in his old man voice again, saying that back in his day they ate with their hands. I sat back down, Brick sat beside me, and I listened as Zoey giggled at Mike's acting. He inhaled sharply and I figured I may as well say something.

"Drop the old man routine," I snapped, "It offends my sense of victory…" Mike looked a little sad, and I saw Brick smiling as I said that out of the corner of my eye. I then asked, "But your Russian gymnast, Svetlana, how do you summon such strength and precision?" I was grinning at him- I was curious about it, anyone athletic like that was worth a question if nothing else.

Mike replied nervously, "I uh, practice in front of the mirror a lot…" Something inside me said he was lying, but I didn't let it bother me. Cameron suddenly said something in a scientific name and I was horrified to see a floating, glowing mouse. Immediately we all ran out of the mess hall, screaming. We all gathered quickly outside- I think Mike ended up falling flat on his face; so much for strength and precision…

Chris informed us to run up the hill to Mount Looming Tragedy. I grinned at this challenge- physical, just the way I liked it. I shouted, "Maggots, ho!" And I began running, everyone else following swiftly.

I got to the front of the group quickly; I was always in the front. Brick tried to stay near me, but Lightning was ever so slightly faster than he was, and I found myself racing with Lightning to get there first- just like the first race. Running uphill was definitely more tiring than just running, but it felt good. I had glanced back at the others once and I saw Brick wasn't far behind- he should thank me for constantly racing with him because if he hadn't been practicing his cardio and his stamina like I was, he would've been at the end of the group. I was surprised to see Pointy wasn't far behind either, but then again he was tall and lanky and his stride was huge.

I made it to the top of the hill first of everyone, and I saw Cameron throwing up in a bush nearby. I groaned and said, "If we were hamsters, I would've eaten you by now." Lucky for him, people were full of fat and that wouldn't help me keep up my speed. I preferred to keep myself firm and fit.

Chris welcomed us to Mount Looming Tragedy, and he was explaining that we'd have to climb up the mountain and that the first team to the top would be the winners. He had begun saying we could use items from a pile of trash, but I wasn't listening. I didn't need any help getting up the mountain- I was skilled at rock climbing, there was no way I would lose this challenge. I was a little bit shocked when I saw the giant fire breathing beetle and I had to duck when it threw a toilet at us. But beetles wouldn't bother me if I was climbing.

Once we got the okay to go, I quickly ran to the rocks and began the vertical assent to the top. I was already a fair way up the hill, and at one point I looked down to find Mike and Zoey helping each other. Apparently she had almost fallen and they felt the best solution was to stare into each other's eyes. Scowling, I shouted at them to get a move on. I wasn't going to have their stupid little crush ruin this for the rest of us.

I noticed a pair of black eyes looking at me and I smiled when I saw Brick a little ways to my right, climbing not far behind me. "Parents made me a rock climbing wall in my nursery," I said, feeling proud of my athletic childhood, "Dislocated my wrist twice…!"

"Impressive," Brick said. I swear his eyelids fell when he was talking to me, but maybe it was just me. "I dislocated my hip during team training once. Watch this!" he said, twisting himself around. His arm suddenly snapped and bent all around in a shape I knew it wasn't supposed to be in.

I smiled- okay, I was impressed. "Nice," I said, "And when did you learn to dislocate your arm?" I wanted to know because it was actually really cool! Maybe he could show me some time.

He squeaked a response, "Just now…" My face fell slightly and I realized he hadn't meant to do that. He really had been trying to dislocate his hip and he accidentally did his arm… I felt kind of bad- the first time you dislocate something hurts, I know from experience.

"Still gonna be able to climb?" I asked, trying to encourage him. Brick looked at me after looking at his arm. He definitely was in pain, but he smiled and nodded once- good. I kept climbing for a little bit before I looked to see my other teammates.

Cameron was trying to find some way to get up to the top, and Mike and Zoey had been knocked off the mountain by Lightning. Great… I saw Anne Maria, and I scowled darkly. She was just standing there! I refused to lose because of a weak link. "Hey!" I shouted, "Hey Spray-head! Too bad they don't make spray on style! You could use it!" I may not be girly, but I know for a fact that if you insult a girl's sense of fashion she'd be trying to kill you no matter what the obstacles. And just as I thought, she began climbing up after, saying she was going to kill me and what-not.

I smiled to myself before continuing to climb. Chef was throwing ice down at us. I dodged easily, Lightning wasn't so lucky, and neither was Brick. The ice block thrown at him hit his good hand and I distinctly heard him whimper with the pain. He just wasn't having a good day…! I heard smashing and shouting and looked down to find Anne Maria screaming, "I'm comin' for you pasty!" Again, I smiled. At least now she was determined to get to the top.

After a little bit more climbing, I made it to the top first. I shouted happily and jumped up and down as I laughed. Chef looked miffed, but he was suddenly crushed by a flying sofa with the Rats on it. I scowled at them.

"You did it B, we won the challenge!" Dawn said before they cheered and Scott landed on his face from out of nowhere. I scowled- I got here first, none of them won.

"Not so fast," Chris said, flying in on a jet-pack, "I decide who wins." I laughed to myself- it was obvious that I had won. "The Rats!" he shouted and immediately my eyes opened wide with anger.

"What?" I shouted, "No, I got up here first! _We_ won!"

"We won?" I heard behind me. Blinking, I looked back to find Brick was right behind me. He cheered, lifting both his arms- he immediately pulled them back down, screaming in pain. Guess he momentarily forgot about his arm…

And then I saw Anne Maria climb up across from me. She was growling lowly and she ran at me at full speed, her fist balled up to her right. She lunged, but I only had to step to the left to avoid the impact. She slammed her fist into Brick, sending him back a few feet.

He groaned about the pain, but as he stumbled backwards, he moved his arm and said with a smile, "Hey! It's fixed! Thanks Anne Mari-!" And then he screamed as he fell all the way back down the mountainside. I heard him slam into the ground and I heard him whimper, "My other arm…!" As Chris went on about something for commercials, I walked to the edge of the cliff. Once Chris finished, Brick shouted in a muffled voice, "I also bit my tongue!" You could tell- he sounded like his tongue was swollen…

Chris explained that since the Rats got their whole team up first that was why they won. Groaning, I began scaling the mountainside to go and get Brick and tell the others. Zoey immediately asked, "Why're you coming down? Did we win?" She looked eager.

Scowling, I replied, "No. The Rats got their whole team up there because B made some flying sofa…" Mike, who was beside Zoey, groaned when I said that. I kept heading down, and soon they were heading down too, when I found Cameron.

He knew immediately and let himself slide down the rocks with ease. At least he was smart enough to know I would only come down when it was completely over. I reached the bottom and went to help Brick. He had fallen and gotten lodged underneath a thick metal pipe from the trash heap.

I lifted the pipe up and tossed it aside. He pushed himself up with his one good arm and I helped by grabbing the back of his shirt and tugging him to his feet. "Thanks…" he grumbled, rubbing his right arm. I had deduced a little while ago that just because Brick was a military cadet didn't mean he wasn't as big a wimp as all other guys were when it came to pain. Well, maybe not all guys, but he definitely was being a bit of a baby…

The Rats and Chris came down and Chris told us we had to hurry to the next part of our challenge… And of course Brick had to prove me wrong. After only about fifty seconds, he was back to his normal self and he was walking in spite of his arm. Okay, so maybe he wasn't that big of a baby. Unlike Cameron, who griped about every little bruise and scrape…

Chris took us to a frozen field, with two separate snow forts on either end. I shivered as everyone else did- I was lucky I had a sweatshirt and sweatpants on over my shorts and shirt: I was probably the second warmest, next to B who has a sweater and mounds of fat keeping him insulated. Everyone was huddling at the start, trying to keep warm. Mike and Zoey were awkwardly hugging and it irritated me- they were both so goo-goo over each other, yet suddenly they were afraid to show any affection? Ugh…Cameron was looking at me, but I snapped at him, "Touch me and I'll break your neck." He stepped away and then huddled closer to Mike and Zoey.

Chris gave the Rats first pick of the snow-forts, and Lightning said something about the castle, but Scott interrupted him with a frozen stutter, "N-nice on the outside means n-nasty on the inside… We'll take the shack." Idiot. Once my team walked into the castle we saw that it was perfect inside-and-out.

Chris announced over the loud speaker that we had to take the flag from the other team; he said we needed to establish a team leader and get going before our forts melted. Easy enough. "As team leader," I had begun, but my voice melded with another and I stopped instantly to find Brick standing beside me. He had been the other to start saying the exact thing I had said. Oh no- I'm going to lead! Not him!

"Thumb wrestle! Stat!" I shouted, putting out my hand after glaring into Brick's black eyes. He quickly gripped my hand and we began the thumb war. I almost wished we could keep holding hands- his hand was so warm! And because there was friction between us fighting, there was warmth generated that spread up to my wrist and a tingling warmth went to my elbow. I wasn't going to lose to him, though.

I pushed against his thumb and immediately I noticed he was barely pushing back. He made it look like he was really fighting, but he wasn't. I wasn't sure what to make of his lack of effort- he always tried his absolute hardest when we raced… I pushed one final time and I bent his thumb back.

He gasped with pain, but quickly saluted and said, "Never met a girl stronger than me… captain…" I smiled warmly at him- he was quick to admit he had lost. He didn't fight it. "Not even my mom…!" I wanted to laugh at his last comment, but I knew we had no time to waste.

"Brick, Spray-head, Red, go out there and capture their flag! Toothpick, Pointy and I will stay here and fire at them…!" I ordered. Brick immediately nodded and marched out of the fort. Zoey had begun to leave, when Mike stopped her and told her to be careful. I groaned and went ahead and began gathering snowballs and throwing them at the other team with our shovel. After a little while I blinked to myself when I heard a familiar hissing sound.

Turning my head, I scowled when I saw Anne Maria still in here. "Hey! Didn't I tell you to go capture their flag?" I spat at her.

"I ain't riskin' fly-aways," she retorted, continuing with her hair.

I scowled and quickly formulated an idea to manipulate her weaknesses. I snatched the hairspray and threw it as hard as I could out of the fort. She glared at me, but she ran out after the can. Laughing to myself, I went back to the snowballs. Unfortunately, I suddenly saw our fort melting. I yelled at Cameron to do something, but he was clinging to our flagpole and he said he was guarding it. I could tell he was just too afraid to do anything.

I told Mike we needed Svetlana. "I can't!" he shouted, "My personality- I mean, I-!" I blinked. Personality, huh?

"And up next on the high vault, three time Russian champ!" Cameron announced like this was some competition.

Mike inhaled and shouted, "It's Svetlana!" He hopped onto the shovel and I sent him flying toward our enemy's fort. He was shouting as he flew, "Make way for Svetlana!" And I actually laughed to myself.

Turning to Cameron, I shouted, "Nice work String bean!" He smiled and then suddenly the giant mutant beetle from the trash heap hopped out of nowhere and it began pummeling him. And as much as I wanted to help, our fort was melting fast. Grabbing the shovel, I ran outside and began shoveling snow onto our fort as fast as I could manage.

After hearing some strange shouting, I glanced to my right and saw the opposing team's fort was a pile of mush on the ground, and I saw Brick holding the flag in his good hand. I saw Mike standing shirtless next to him, and I really didn't understand what had happened. They each looked like they had been fighting… And how was Mike not freezing to death with no shirt on?

Chris announced that my team won. I sighed happily and dropped the shovel, running back inside to kick the beetle as hard as I could. It flew through the air and Cameron was left to pull himself back to his feet. "Thanks Jo, I owe you one," he grumbled, staggering to a standing position.

We walked out to greet the rest of our team, and Chris gave us all hot chocolate as our reward. It was much appreciated- my skin had become so accustomed to the cold that just touching the mug made me feel as though I had been burned. Drinking the liquid was fantastic!

I went to the confessional first thing once we got back to the cabins, and others tried to before me. But they'd have to wait in line. I quickly stated, "As team leader, it's my job to find my team's weaknesses and exploit them into doing whatever I want… Anne Maria had no idea that she t I wanted. It's like training a dog- make them think it was their idea and they'll do whatever you want." I sat and thought for a moment, rubbing my chin in contemplation. My mind was going back to the thumb war with Brick. "Seems Brick's a gentleman," I said, looking up at the camera, "he hardly tried… And chivalry is a weakness I can take advantage of…!" I was grinning happily- I now had two teammates under my wing. "I accomplished two things in today's challenge. We won, and Brick will be my peon until I render him useless…"

As I stepped out I nearly got knocked down by Mike, who rushed in and began going into a fit. I scowled and I wondered if during the episodes of this show they took only bits and pieces of our confessionals and put them wherever. If I had to guess, yes- they probably did that to make certain people look nicer or more evil than others… I sighed- I was probably seen as evil now, huh?

Looking up, I saw Brick sitting on the steps of our cabin, rubbing his arm. Rolling my eyes at what I was about to do, I grumbled, "can't believe I'm gonna do this…" Walking up to his side, I asked, holding out a hand, "Want me to fix your arm?"

He looked up at me and asked, "You can?"

"Sure I can, you just never complained earlier, so I assumed you were okay…" I said. I remembered Mike high-fiving him and Brick screaming, but as long as I didn't say it, he wouldn't realize I had known he was in pain.

He thought about it for a moment and I spat, crossing my arms across my chest, "Look if you don't want me to help then you can just suffer through it…"

"No, no!" he said, quickly jumping to his feet, "I'd really appreciate it…!" He smiled nervously at me as I stood behind him. I placed my left hand on his shoulder and I gripped his arm with my right hand and began pulling up and back on his arm while pressing into his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and then with one last movement, I let go of him and stood back.

He rolled his arm around a couple of ties and flexed. "There ya go," I said, folding my arms across my chest with pride.

Brick turned around and said with a happy grin, "Thanks! It's a lot better now…!" He moved his arm a few more times before asking, "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"When you learn to fix your own dislocated body parts, other peoples are easy," I said, waving one hand nonchalantly. I wasn't lying to him when I said that- returning my arm to its socket on my own was definitely harder than fixing his for him. I had the use of both arms when I fixed his! He smiled at me as I spoke.

"Well thank you again," he said, smiling still, "It was really nice of you…"

Immediately after he said that my brain registered why I hadn't wanted to do this- because it would make him think I was weak. I glared darkly at him and started, "Hey- what did I-?"

Brick cut across me. "Permission to speak?" he asked. Frowning, I nodded once. He smiled and said, "I know you said you wouldn't be nice to me. I remember. I don't think any less of you for doing it…" Immediately my expression lightened and I smiled softly at him. He really was a gentleman…!

I sat down on the steps of the cabin, he quickly sat next to me, and I asked with a smirk, "How come you let me win the thumb war earlier? If you wanted to be leader you could've tried harder…"

"Nah," he replied, waving his now working right hand, "I'm better at taking orders than giving them. Besides, I could tell you really wanted to establish yourself as the captain…"

Looking at him, I glanced over when I saw the Rats coming back- with one less giant silent guy… I saw Dawn look over in our direction and I clearly saw her smile. I whispered quietly, "Think Dawn's got it in for ya, Jarhead."

"Wha?" Brick asked, staring at me wide-eyed. His cheeks were read and he looked absolutely shocked.

"Well I talked to her after the last challenge, and she asked if I wanted to talk about you. And just now she smiled at you," I explained calmly, "At least she's not as love-struck as Pointy and Red…"

Brick looked over at Dawn for a moment and muttered, "I don't really think she's into me…" I glanced in his direction, scanning his face as he spoke. "And she's not really my type anyway…" he mumbled.

I laughed. "Yeah, your type is the kind who poses on top of airplanes in skimpy army-esque outfits and says to support your troops..!" He looked at me and argued that it wasn't true, but I was laughing too hard to pay attention. He was red in the face now, but I was having too much fun to care. I patted his shoulder, called him Dampy-pants and walked off to go and train with my punching bag.

I had been punching until darkness fell. It was nice to get a workout, but I wasn't happy with my punching bag. I remembered how it had felt to punch Brick this morning and my punching bag just didn't measure up. Brick was more tones and not as soft as the sand. Sure, when I occasionally punched a rock it felt like brick, but I couldn't hit the exact same spot every single time. I scowled and grunted to myself, jabbing as hard as I could, "Why. Can't. you. Be. Like. Brick!" The orange sack didn't respond, just quivered on its string as I beat it. Eventually I gave up on the interrogation and I leaned against the tree supporting my punching bag.

I heard soft footsteps and I looked up to find Dawn standing there. I had almost not heard her- she was very light on her feet. "Care to discuss the earth with me?" she asked, smiling gently. I raised an eyebrow at her and she quickly said, "I invited Mike, Zoey, Brick, and all the others to a campfire where we can all watch the stars. There's going to be a meteor shower tonight…!"

I thought about it for a moment or two. "Oh why not, if everyone else is going…" I said, getting to my feet. Dawn clapped her hands together and smiled happily, before leading me to the campfire ceremony area. Mike and Zoey were sitting right next to each other, leaning against the stumps we sat on for elimination. They were pointing out the constellations and giggling to each other. Sam and Scott were sitting near each other, also leaning against the stumps. Cameron was near Mike and Zoey, correcting them whenever they got a constellation wrong. Anne Maria was on the opposite side of Mike, and Dawn went and sat between her and Sam. Brick was sitting off to the right, near Cameron, but in between the groups and close to Lightning. Lightning was munching on a marshmallow. Dawn began gazing up at the sky and I wondered if she went into a trance.

I wasn't exactly sure where to sit- no one here was really my friend… The closest thing I had was Brick… Do rivals count as friends? He smiled when he saw me and quickly motioned next to him and he patted the ground beside him. I smiled softly- Brick had invited me to sit with him! Thankfully it seems that rivals can in fact count as friends…!

"Where were you?" he asked, "Dawn said you weren't in the 'proximity of our auras'…" He quoted Dawn when he said that- it sounded like something she would say…

Sitting to his left, I replied, "Ah, just training…"

"In the dark?" he asked, looking a bit surprised and scared. I wanted to scoff- if Brick was afraid of the dark then there was no hope that any of the guys here were manly. Maybe that's why Lightning thought I was a guy- I had no fears. Well, I avoided the color pink at all times, but I wasn't afraid of it…

All of us sat and watched the stars, and soon sure enough streaks of light began flying across the sky. It was an incredible meteor shower- Mike kept joking that we were all able to make as many wishes as we wanted. I'm sure he was wishing for Zoey's love or something sappy like that. I rolled my eyes and just kept watching the stars. I didn't need to wish for anything- I could get anything I wanted without it.

Brick started leaning a little closer to me at one point. I gave him a weird look when he did and he quickly apologized. I scowled angrily and I began thinking. Mike had to have Multiple Personality disorder. He said he couldn't control them, and he had accidentally said that exact word during the challenge today. So that's how he was able to summon such grace… He didn't have to work at it at all… I then thought a few times about some of the things I had seen Scott do. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to sabotage his own team… Why would he be doing that?

My eyes widened. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Instantly I shoved Brick as hard as I possibly could while getting to my feet. He quickly looked up at me and I stomped back to the cabin. "That's it! I'm done with this!" I snarled lowly. Zoey quickly ran after me.

"Aw come on, Jo!" she said, "I know you don't like hanging out with us much, but you don't need to run off!"

I spat at her, "I'm not gonna sit around and get felt up when I could be planning our strategy!" As soon as I had said that, she gasped and stared at me. My cheeks flushed as I realized what I had said and I quickly added in, "And- and I'm not here to play patty-cake…! I'm here to win…!" And instead of going to the cabin, I ran back into the forest and began beating the crap out of my punching bag. Every single punch was aimed at the picture of Brick- my motivation for the evening.

After beating the bag and the picture so hard that the paper was in shreds and the sack had a few tears in it, I started running the entire length of the island. I ran and ran and ran until I noticed the sun coming up. I growled deep in my throat and sprinted up the hill leading to the cliff over the water. I got to the top and dove straight down and into the water. Sinking to the bottom, I opened my eyes and began swimming up and forward.

I swam all the way around, punching any sharks or piranhas that tried to get near me, until I got to the front dock. I hauled myself out of the water and quickly took off my shoes and poured the water out of them. My sweater was heavy with freezing water, and I quickly took it off and set it next to me on the dock. My white tang top I had on underneath clung to my frame and I had to ring out the bottom of it. It didn't dry it off any really, just made it less soaked…

Chris walked over to me and said, "Hey Jo, next time you wanna take an all-night swim, you might wanna tell the camera crew so we know you didn't die. Like it says in your contract, we're not responsible for you unless you notify someone that you're doing something reckless…"

I scoffed, "Yeah. You wouldn't be responsible if I told you personally that I was going to shoot myself because of this stupid show…"

Chris chuckled behind me and said, "True…" After a small moment of silence, he said, "But you realize you missed breakfast, right? The rest of your team's having lunch as we speak."

I got up, threw my sweater over my shoulder and said, "I get the message, McLean…" Then I walked down the dock and off to the mess hall. As soon as I stepped inside everyone turned and looked at me. I ignored worried looks from the Maggots and a smile from Brick and went and simply asked Chef for food. He handed me my tray, which I snatched out of his hand, and then Chef walked away. I took my tray of food and I sat myself down right next to brick, just like I always did and began eating when I thought of something.

Smirking, I turned to him and asked, "Wanna bet I can eat this faster than you?" Brick blinked a couple of times and stared at me.

Zoey quickly asked, "But aren't you mad?"

"Nah," I replied, twirling my spoon, "Brick and I are rivals. I'm always mad at him. And I hate the rest of you, so I'm always mad at you too…" Zoey looked offended at first, but then she smiled weakly when she realized that I had just said I wasn't mad at anybody. I looked at Brick expectantly and he smiled and we began our eating contest.

Sure, I was still angry at him- and I probably would never look at Brick the same way again, but we were still rivals. He was the best competition I had on this stupid island and he was perfect for training and competing. So he had tried to put some moves on me- I wasn't gonna obsess over it when I was that much closer to the million. He obviously had only done it because it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Brick was my rival- therefore, I wasn't going to worry about all the crap that he did. I'd just have to do it all better than he did.

**Haha, Jo's clueless… But I think she'll figure it out soon enough… Maybe I'll sketch the campfire scene… Or maybe someone else will… Not sure… Let's gather 'round the campfire and sing our campfire song…!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well this episode was one of my favorite Jock episodes. (Probably because it has so much that could probably be twisted into Jock) And the hand-holding scene where Jo actually shows she has a heart. And then it grew three sizes that night…! No, not really… But, um… I prefer the Runaway Model episode. That has the absolute best scenes that could turn into Jock. I saw that episode on YouTube and I was staring at the screen like "Why are they not in love?" To be frank, I was suspicious of them when I first saw the opening video… When Jo ran after Brick, I was all like "Oh-ho!" And I sat forward, grinning from ear to ear excitedly. Then I found out the opening was just teasing me and I sat back and muttered angrily for a good twenty minutes or so…**

**Brick-House-** Chapter Four- Finders Creepers

Every day I had continued racing with Brick around the island, and every time I caught him running while I was training I would drop everything and chase after him so that I could beat him back to the steps on the beach. It was admittedly a lot of fun racing with Brick and such. I would never say it aloud, but Brick was probably the only thing keeping me sane. That, and the million dollars…

It had been a long day so far- running 5k and then another 5k in the afternoon because Brick said he had run 8k in the morning. I still needed to best him at everything- that was my second biggest goal here on this island. The biggest was to win. I had refused to sit with Brick for brains on the steps of our cabin anymore; after the little episode while watching meteors, I didn't want any more touching that wasn't harmful, apprehensive, or for my own purposes of manipulation.

Sitting in the confessional, I was pondering things to myself. It was the only place I could have any real privacy- Brick would constantly be right by my side anywhere that wasn't here or the girls' side of our cabin, and in there I'd have to deal with Spray-head or Pigtails… No thank you.

Rubbing my chin, I muttered, "The challenge has gotta be tonight… Or tomorrow… Chris has given us three days of peace and quiet… And the cameramen haven't been stalking us at all today… Mmm…" Looking up at the camera, I quickly said, "You'd think we'd have had a fear-related challenge by now…"

After that, I got up and walked out. It may have been private, but it was still an outhouse- and it smelled terrible. I walked out to the cabin and I got another piece of paper and began drawing a picture of Chris. I'd draw Jarhead later- right now I was waiting for Chris to inflict some sort of torture upon us.

"Hey, that's really good," I heard a soft voice say. Looking up, I scowled when I found Zoey leaning forward and watching me draw. "I didn't know you could draw like that, Jo…"

"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly tell you, did I?" I snarled darkly. She looked a little confused, but she didn't move away. I groaned and returned to drawing. Once it was finished I licked my finger and rubbed it against the end of the marker; Dawn let me keep the black one.

"Hey, can you draw one for me?" Zoey asked. I flipped my head up to glare at her so hard it could've killed someone as cold-blooded as myself. She jumped backwards, squeaking with terror.

I continued my death glare and I spat, "I'm not your friend, Pigtails..! Stop acting like we're buddy-buddy!" She shivered and I stormed off to tape the picture to my punching bag. Once it was secure, I decided to beat the living daylights out of it. I stopped when I heard someone saying that it was time to eat. From the sound of it, it was Brick. I rolled my eyes and slowly walked out of the woods. He smiled when he saw me and I scowled at him- he knew where my punching bag was, why not just come and get me?

Then again, I sort of preferred not having him breathe down my neck while I trained… He was just always right where I was. No matter where I went…! I followed him too, but that was because I wanted to be sure that whenever there was a chance for me to be better than him that I was there. He followed me for no reason. Was he really that competitive that he had to be right there at all times?

Every time I thought on it, it would feel like there was an itching at the back of my mind. I always dismissed the idea- it was stupid. I mean, Brick having feelings for me was just plain ridiculous! We were rivals! Besides, if Dawn wasn't his type, how on Earth was I? I felt like I was nervously laughing in my head. Instantly I smacked myself, shouting, "Stop thinking like that you dolt!"

Brick stared at me in shock when I did that. I wasn't embarrassed- I didn't care if he was afraid of me. I didn't care if he was my friend. This was a competition. All I cared about was winning the million dollars. I remembered Heather's quote from the first season of this stupid show- "We're not here to make friends". I agreed whole-heartedly. Friends just got in the way. Or they got weird like Brick had… That was just bizarre that night- first leaning closer to me, then putting his arm around me? What could possibly possess him into thinking I would be okay with that?

I walked into the mess hall and sat next to Brick like always. Mike and Zoey sat across from us as they always did, and Cameron sat to my left like he always did. We had a routine and assigned seats here on the Mutant Maggots, unlike the Rats, who sat willy nilly everyday… Occasionally we would switch tables, but not often. Anne Maria always just sat near Mike and Zoey, but not always in the same spot…

Somehow I kept forgetting Anne Maria. Even though she was obnoxious and irritating I still lost track that she was there. Heck, I lost track that any of the rest of them were there…! A lot of times they all just seemed like dead weight…

After we all ate, I challenged Brick to a race around the beach to the steps. He accepted gladly an on the count of three we sprinted. I won as usual and once I reached the steps I jumped up and down and cheered for myself in my head. Brick gasped for air, but once he had caught his breath he smiled at me- he was surprisingly a good sport. Unlike me… I hated losing… I never did, but on the extremely off-chance that I ever did, I resented it.

At the end of the day, the teams went to go and sleep, when suddenly a blaring horn went off. I ran back outside to see what was going on. Everyone else quickly gathered, Brick somehow managing to place himself right beside me again, and yet the horn continued. Dakota, the new intern, was standing there, holding it above her head. One she stopped, Chris said something to her about her internship here, and she shouted "WHAT" in response. Her ears were dead.

Chris began explaining our challenge. He said we had a scavenger hunt to do, and when he first announced we'd be doing our challenge now, Brick spazzed. He whimpered, "What? Now? When it's all d-d-dark?" I rolled my eyes at him and returned my attention to Chris.

"Watch out for booby-traps, I really went to town with 'em!" he was saying.

Mike, I think, asked nervously, "What does the giant Spider represent?"

"Oh yeah," Chris said with a nonchalant smile, "there's some kind of giant mutated spider running loose on the island…"

Cameron spazzed an asked, "Where? Where?" I groaned inwardly- God, were all the men here such wimps? I'd definitely have to find to whip these noodles into shape…

Chris had said something and then the horn went off again, and we took that as our cue to get moving. We ran, and unfortunately ended up at the first clue area after the Rats. Scowling, I knew instantly we needed to follow their clue and get the first reward before they did.

When someone said something to me, I said, "Follow me, I have a plan…"

Once we stopped, I think it was Cameron who asked me what my plan was- to be honest; I wasn't keeping track of who was talking to me anymore. I turned and said, "We follow the Rats and their clue to the first reward!" Glancing around, I said, "Into that bush!" And we all piled into the thorny red bush. It hurt, but I didn't care.

"A knot and a nest. Your clue lives with a pest. Follow Polaris to travel northwest…" I heard Dawn muttering as her team walked.

"They're getting away! C'mon!" I whispered after they were gone. It was difficult to get out, more so than getting in. I heard Brick whimpering something, and the next thing any of us knew we were running along still trapped inside the bush. Slowly but surely the plant fell apart, and we each ended up falling out of it. I wasn't really sure what to think when I felt a hand on my left thigh and another under my neck. Brick apparently had caught me as the bush disintegrated and was holding me bridal style. I blinked a few times and looked at him like he had three heads- my eyes widened further when I saw him looking at me and blushing. Immediately I jumped out of his grasp with terror.

I landed on my face on the ground, and I heard Brick ask me if I was okay. Instantly I turned myself around to scoot away across the ground- pushing myself as fast as I could with my legs and hands until I backed into a tree. Sitting on the ground, looking up at him, I was so terrified of what was going on. Brick had been touching me again! But instead of being angry like last time, this time I was… scared… I was actually afraid of something.

He walked over to me, whispering, "Jo, what's wrong?"

I slapped his hand away and I stammered, "I-I thought y-you were Cameron, that's all…!" I had to lie. Brick looked confused, raising the left side of his unibrow as he looked at me. "J-just help String Bean!" I ordered, still stuttering. Brick saluted and ran over to the skinniest member of the group.

Staggering to my feet, I caught my breath and shouted that we needed to catch the Rats and get our reward. My team really knew I was the leader now- none of them argued and they followed me quickly. We caught Scott and Sam standing underneath a tree, and Sam quickly said, laughing nervously, "Maybe we should look for the reward way over there with the rest of our teammates! …Cuz it's not just the two of us…!"

I frowned- so they had lost Lightning and Dawn, huh? That made them that much weaker… Somebody pointed out team colors, saying that must be where the clue was. I quickly stopped them and said, "Probably a trap. We should send our most expendable player…"

I had walked forward, and Brick quickly said, "No one's expendable…!"

I stormed back to him, glaring into his black eyes and I saw instant terror and fear in them, along with Mike's, Cameron's, Anne Maria's, and Zoey's. They feared me- as they rightly should. I snapped at him, "Do you wanna play nice? Or do you wanna win?" And I proceeded to grab hold of Cameron's sweater and I threw him straight into the hole in the tree. It was a perfect bulls-eye.

He groaned with pain at first, but then he quickly shouted, "A key!" And then he started screaming about a giant arachnid and he fell flat on his face. Mike congratulated him and bent to get the key. When he stood back up he started asking where Zoey went. Then he started screaming for her and running around in circles.

Rolling my eyes at this pathetic show of affection, I simply said, "Aaand we call off the search and forge ahead…!"

I had begun walking when I heard Brick's voice. "That's against the cadet code! Never leave a soldier behind!"

Scowling, I turned back around. What was with him tonight? Standing up to me like this…! I was tempted to slap him silly, but at the same time I was tempted to shove him into a tree and start smothering him. "Look, we didn't leave her. She left us," I spat, "that means she's AWOL." I used terms I knew would influence our military boy, and I told him we had to keep going. Everyone else followed me, but unfortunately Mike kept shouting for her the entire time.

We reached a point where I saw flashes of light, and I grinned when I saw Sam on the ground, charred from explosions. As my team ran past he and Scott, I shouted, "Thanks for clearing the way!" Mike shouted for Zoey again and I growled deep in my throat- this is why I hate romantically involved people! They never shut up when one of them is gone…!

Upon stopping at a gate, Chris's voice over a speaker welcomed us to the Wawanakwa pet cemetery. "We're first String-bean!" I said, placing my hand on Cameron's shoulder and smiling. Immediately I shoved him, ordering, "Go get the clue…!"

He stumbled over to a small coffin and said something about three sixes being evil. I ordered everyone to fan out and search. "Y-you mean, like, by ourselves…?" Brick asked with a stutter of fear. I frowned at him and rolled my eyes before quickly walking off.

I was wandering around, scanning headstones and such, when I suddenly heard a crash, coupled with a scream, and then I distinctly heard Brick shouting for help. My heart immediately began racing- I sprinted to the grave that the shouting was coming from and I heard Brick screaming, "Too dark! Too dark!"

"Brick, take my hand!" I shouted to him, lowering my hand down into the grave to him. I was so afraid he was hurt- I prayed that he wasn't injured. But feeling the warm, rough skin I recognized from our thumb war, I knew Brick was at least able to reach for me. A feeling of relief flooded over me as I pulled him up from the grave and back up with me. He stumbled slightly once he was on the ground, but other than that he appeared to be unharmed.

"So dark…! So dark..!" he was mumbling, clutching his head in terror. I scowled- I didn't like seeing Brick like this: afraid, helpless, just not like himself.

I grabbed hold of his shirt, and began slapping him across the face, shouting in desperation, "Pull! Yourself! Together!"

He stood, blinking with his now bruised face, and I smiled when he stood up straight. Immediately I blinked and thought to myself- what in the world is the matter with me? I had already seen the stain in his blue shorts, but I needed something to get him to leave. I had to think this through- why had I been so worried?

I looked down at his pants, made a grossed out face, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Anne Maria and Cameron were also looking. When had they gotten there? AGH! Was I really that focused on saving Brick that I didn't even see them?

Brick quickly lied, "Uh, it was wet down there and I landed on my crotch!" I didn't believe it for a second. "I gotta go dry off…!"

Good. I needed time to think on this. As soon as he was behind a tree, I began arguing mentally. It was just Brick! And he shouldn't matter…! He's a military cadet! He can take care of himself! I didn't care about him! I was just worried about the penalties Chris warned us about for losing another player…! Yeah! That was it…!

Suddenly Brick's scream pierced the air. My breath hitched in my throat- no! I ran as fast as I could around that tree, but I was already too late. Brick was nowhere to be found. I swallowed and then inwardly I screamed at myself- there I was going again! It was just Brick1 He was obviously just not good enough at this game to keep himself safe! Stop freaking out over him! Stop it Jo! Stop!

"Good riddance," I said, hiding my emotions with a blank face and hiding the quiver in my voice with my usual cold tones, "Two words. Dead. Weight."

Anne Maria immediately turned on me and she spat, "Hey, Brick may not be attractive in any way," Not attractive in any way? Why was that important? Who cares how attractive Brick is? I certainly don't! Was she implying that I found Brick attractive? Because I don't! "But he is still a puhson..." she finished.

I hid my sigh of relief- she wasn't implying anything, thank goodness… After our argument, I began searching around some more by myself. I glanced around constantly- hoping that Brick was just pulling some sort of elaborate prank. I skidded to a stop. "What's the matter with me?" I whispered, placing my hand on my forehead, "Breathe, Jo, breathe… Brick's not important. Winning…. Winning is what's important… Let's just focus on that… Winning…"

I heard Anne Maria shouting something about six, so I hurried back with my team. Mike was apparently now Vito, which made very little sense to me, but whatever… Our reward was apparently flashlights… Lame…

We began walking until we reached a cave. Chris announced that our last clue was inside. Suddenly I heard a question beside me, "Where's Anne Maria and Mike?" It was Cameron.

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Who cares?" I walked into the cave by myself- none of them mattered to me. Why would I care if they got eaten? I found a skeleton in intern clothes- identical to Chris's clothes, except the shirt was red.

Grinning, I commented, "It's so hard to find good help these days…" I took the paper from its pocket and read aloud, "By hook or by crook, the end is near if you look…" Groaning, I griped, "Who wrote these? William Shakespeare-?"

Suddenly I was thrown to the ground, and then suddenly my arms and legs were bound to me and my eyes were covered. "Hey! How dare you!" I shouted, trying to struggle out of my binds. It felt sticky… And then I was hauled into the air. I shouted, "No!" But there wasn't much I could do. I tried to get free the entire time I was being lifted through the air, and then all of a sudden I was thrown into something, slightly upside-down, and I hung there.

"Jo! You're okay!" I knew that voice…

"Brick!" I quickly shouted, joy welling up all the way to my neck. I swore my face was glowing I was so happy. "I wondered what happened to you! We couldn't find you at the cemetery!" I said, practically giggling.

"Yeah, well, I kinda got stuck here," he replied, "Just like the others.

"Hm?" I asked.

I heard a soft voice that was high-pitched- Dawn- say, "Greetings Jo… Your aura is looking exceptionally pink this evening…" For some reason I could feel her grinning.

"Hi Jo," I heard Zoey say, "How's Mike?"

"Eh, he was freaking out about you until he lost his shirt," I replied, shrugging my shoulders inside the webs. Zoey sounded sad at that- or I felt her sorrow. Without my sight I was relying on a lot of gambling…

"Lightning wants to get down!" I heard the muscle-bound-idiot shout with fear. If I could roll my eyes, I would.

"Really? Because I wanna stay up here all night…!" I snarled sarcastically.

Zoey quickly said, "Guys, don't fight! We're stuck here until someone gets us down…!"

"Whatever…" I scoffed. And so we all hung there, waiting. After a while I heard hissing, shouting, and then I felt the web bounce with a new member being thrown into the group.

"Who's landed in it now? Tan-job? Game-junkie? Freckle face?" I asked, "C'mon, don't leave me hangin'!" Seeing as how I had webs over my eyes, I needed an answer…

"It's just me, String-Bean," I heard my weak reply.

"Wow," I muttered, "You lasted longer than I expected…" After a little bit longer I heard the shouting of Anne Maria and then I heard Sam and then I heard Mike shouting Zoey's name. I groaned to myself. Suddenly I heard Cameron screaming and then lots of pounding and more of Cameron shouting. I really wished I could see…

I heard a feminine voice laughing, and then the web caved in a spot below me and I heard Brick screaming. Out of the side I heard Mike asking, "Why do these ropes feel so sticky?" in a Russian female voice. Svetlana…!

"Don't worry! I'm coming to save you!" I heard Brick shout.

"No! Go get the clue!" I shouted to him.

"But, my code…!" he shouted, sounding weaker, "I need to save you…!"

Immediately I spat, "No, you need to win! Somebody has to!"

"But my code…!" he began.

Getting annoyed with his sudden backbone, I shouted, "Cut and run soldier! That's an order!"

I heard a familiar, "sir, yes, sir" and then more screaming from Cameron as the cave began collapsing. I'm not sure who got us all out of the web, but once we were freed, I saw that the giant spider was actually Izzy in disguise. It was really really weird…

We walked back around and out of the cave and Chris met up with us, along with Brick and Sam and Scott. Chris told us, "The Rats won. Maggots, the campfire ceremony, if you will…"

We all walked back to the fire pit and as we walked, Brick was yelling at me. "If I had just saved you like I wanted to in the first place, we would've won!"

"Maybe you should've been a better player!" I spat.

"I should've just followed my own code! I never should've listened to you…!" he snarled, stomping ahead of me. I stopped for a brief moment- for some reason hearing that cut deep: I liked having Brick do whatever I said… He was so angry at me…

Slowly my sad frown transformed into a scowl of rage. "Fine…!" I shouted at him, my voice breaking the lens of a camera near me. I wanted to cry, but I didn't understand why I wanted to, and that made me not.

We all sat on the stumps, Brick sitting next to me, but neither one of us looking at each other. We were glaring in opposite directions. Chris laughed and said, "This tension is so delish, I could kiss someone! Not you Mike, we all know where those lips have been…" A brief pause and Chris teased, "But maybe Brick and Jo would like to kiss and make up?"

I glared harder, keeping my reddening face hidden with anger. Why that statement made my face feel hot, I don't know. Maybe just the idea of kissing Brick when we were so angry at each other.

"Didn't think so," Chris said.

Suddenly movement to my left made me turn my head. I felt sad when I saw Brick standing. "I volunteer for elimination. I did not follow my own code… I don't deserve to be here…" he said, looking down shamefully.

"Yeah, no kidding Sir Leaks-a-lot," I scoffed.

Brick instantly turned on me. Getting right in my face, he said, "So I'm afraid of the dark…! That's what night vision goggles are for!" He scanned my eyes and then shouted, "You would never make it on my squadron…!"

I yawned and grinned to myself. This felt so right- yelling at him. Brick and I were always fighting. It was natural.

"Hold on, Brick," Chris said, "Today's eliminated Maggot is tomorrow's new Rat…!"

My eyes widened- no way…! Chris wasn't doing this…! "I'm not taking the hurl of shame?" Brick asked, glancing at all of us.

"Nope!' Chris announced, "From now on, you're a member of the Toxic Rats!"

Everyone gasped, but then realized it wasn't that big of a deal. I glared to my right at the ground. Pure, unadulterated rage was boiling in my stomach. It made me feel as though I was going to puke lava. I hated everything right now. I hated everyone. I hated Chris. I really really hated Chris.

I didn't even listen to the rest of what everyone said. Once Chris dismissed us I sprinted to my punching bag and I began tearing into the drawing of Chris. My nails dug at the paper and the fabric as I punched and clawed at his face. I screamed and ripped at the orange fabric with my knuckles. I was so angry at Chris. This wasn't fair! Brick's still here! And now he's on the other team! No! No no no! This can't be happening!

"NO!" I snarled, punching a hole straight into the punching bag. Sand began pouring out and I fell to the ground, hugging my knees and hiding my face against the fabric of my sweatpants. I gripped my knees tightly, my knuckles going white with force. Chris would pay for this! I'd kill him! If it's the last thing I ever do, I'll kill him!

"Jo," I nearly screamed at the sound of the soft voice out of the silence. I looked up and saw Dawn standing there.

Swallowing, I instantly spat, "Go away…!"

She remained right where she was. "Are you ready to talk to me about Brick?" she asked gently.

I threw my hands out toward her, shouting, "Why do you want to talk about Brick with me so bad? Are you that in love with him? Well then fine! He's on your team now! Talk with Zoey about him!"

Dawn knelt before me and she whispered, "You know why I want to talk to you about Brick, Jo. You don't want to admit it, but I know you know…" My eyes widened in horror. Don't say it. Don't say it. I mentally pleaded her not to say it. The one thought that had been that nagging itch in the back of my head. No…!

"Jo, Brick likes you," Dawn said softly.

I screamed and buried my face in my knees, sobbing uncontrollably for no reason. Why was I crying? Why did I care? What was the matter with me?

"No!" I sobbed, "No, he can't! He likes you! He has to!"

Dawn smiled at me and said gently, "Jo, I know that boys don't usually like you… You always see them go for the pretty girl wearing the short shorts and the make-up. It's all you've dealt with. Every time you like a guy, usually he's athletic like you; he's not even given you a second thought… And now that you've met Brick, you don't want to accept the fact that he's in love with you… You don't want to set yourself up for getting your heart broken again… That's why you always have to win and be so athletically better than anyone else- it gets the guys you like to notice you. Even if they won't go out with you…" I was staring at her wide-eyed as tears flowed from my eyes, and she smiled comfortingly.

"He really does like you," she said, "And you and I both know that you've been pushing the idea that he does away because you secretly feel the same way about him…" I swallowed and scanned her face- how did she know all of this? How? I had even convinced myself that it wasn't true! Every time I had thought about Brick I had told myself it was just because we were rivals…! Even when those thoughts became more… "You've been so afraid that Brick's going to hurt you that you don't even want to give him a chance…"

I looked away and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Dawn and she said softly, "Believe me Jo; Brick would never do anything to hurt you… You're all he thinks about…"

My brow furrowed and I quickly spat, "Yeah well not after tonight…! I wouldn't be surprised if after tonight he never talked to me again…!"

"Jo," Dawn whispered, "You and I both know you don't believe that…"

"WELL HOW DO YOU KNOW?" I shouted at her, sobbing as I did, "How do you know he doesn't? How do you know he's not just like everyone else? HOW?"

"It's all over his aura," she replied, "He was raised to be a gentleman. He never wants to hurt a girl, even one as tough as you. Brick's a sweet guy Jo, I can see it…" I frowned and looked at the grass. "And I can see that you would be sweet too if you just had someone to make you that way…" she said.

After a small pause, she said, "I know you saved him tonight…"

I stared up at her in shock. "How did you…?"

"It's your aura," she replied, "You're entire being is focusing on that moment when you grabbed his hand… You thought his hand was warm and rough, but you liked it… You were so worried about him…" She giggled happily- apparently she was proud of me for being worried about Brick.

I looked away and sat there. She stood up and I looked back at her. Smiling, Dawn said, "Trust me Jo. Just wait until tomorrow my friend… I can promise you things will be right back to normal…" And she waved at me before walking away on her fairy feet.

Sitting under my punching bag, I frowned and thought and waited. I wasn't sure… I smiled softly- maybe Dawn was right… And then a softer smile came to my face- Dawn had called me friend. I never had a friend who was a girl before… Not since I was six… She was my first official friend in years… Well, even if things with Brick didn't turn out, at least I could take comfort in that…..There was no way I had a crush on Brick though- crushes are for girly girls. I'm not girly. I don't have a crush… Well… Maybe I liked him…a little… But that was it!

**Oh Jo. So strong even when you're in such a weakened state… Yay for Dawn! I dunno why I chose her as the friend, I just felt that Dawn was willing to accept everybody and see the good in them. The next chapter is going to have a scene of Jock in it that I noticed the first time I watched the episode. I saw it and I was like "Why is Jo smiling?" And my mind began thinking up all sorts of incredible scenarios.**

**I think I got Chris's message wrong… Oh well…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, I'm not sure how to describe how happy this story is making me. Just writing all this out puts a smile on my face! Oh, and this is the episode where I found a scene that made me stop what I was doing and rewind the ep. (Records every episode possible) So I'm gonna warn y'all now. If you think that I'm lying, go watch the episode again. The scene where I talk about Jo smiling and staring after the dingy is completely one-hundred percent real. I may add some of my own Jock obsessiveness, but it's a real scene. It's immediately after the commercial break, so at first I didn't even notice it. Until I listened to what Chris was saying and I went- "Why is she smiling? Isn't that a bad thing?" Small small details can be twisted so easily it's fantastic! Now….On with the random JOCK!**

**Brick-House-** Chapter Five- Backstabbers Ahoy!

That night was uncomfortable for me and everyone else on the Mutant Maggots- why? Because Brick had decided he'd move cabins tomorrow morning, and he slept in the Maggot cabin anyway. When I had walked back I froze where I was when I saw him sitting on the steps of our cabin. Afterwards I think I had almost run to the confessional. I was so afraid that Brick would start screaming at me when I went over there that I didn't want to risk it.

I had reached for the confessional door and Dawn had grabbed my shoulder. Turning to look at her, I saw she shook her head. "But I-!" I had begun.

She smiled sweetly at me and pushed me away from the confessional. She didn't say anything, but she didn't really need to. I sighed in surrender and I walked back to our cabin. As I approached the steps I noticed that Brick looked up at me- he smiled at first, but then his smile fell and he pouted at the ground. I knew he was still mad…

I tried to walk up the steps as far away from him as physically possible- I refused to look at him as I did. If I looked then I knew I wouldn't be able to keep myself from saying things I shouldn't. I went to the girls' side door and glanced back at him before heading inside. Zoey looked at me, Anne Maria was brushing her hair, and I sat on my bunk.

"You okay, Jo?" Red asked, "You don't look too good…"

I frowned at the ground. If I told her anything that would be showing her my weakness. I quickly lied, "Just tired, that's all…" And that was the end of the discussion. Everyone went to sleep fairly quickly- being up all day and night put a strain on energy levels.

When I woke up I was still incredibly tired. I didn't bother getting up super early, just early… When I stepped outside, I sat on the steps and watched as the mutated birds flew around in circles. Gross creatures, but they still sounded like regular birds. I rested my chin on my palm and sat with a worried smile on my face.

A familiar blaring trumpet sound met my ears and almost immediately my muscles tensed. I got to my feet quickly and tried my hardest to walk away un-suspiciously. If Brick didn't know I was afraid to talk to him, then maybe I'd convince myself as well… I heard a creaking noise and the deep voice of Brick saying, "Jo?"

I swallowed and turned to look at him. He smiled gently at me and asked, "You just get back from your morning run?"

"Oh, um," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my head, "Actually, no…" He blinked and I said, "I was just listening to the birds… Or… what used to be birds…"

I went ahead to go find my mutilated punching bag. A large portion of the sand had come out, and there were laser squirrels nesting in the hole. I just walked slowly past the orange sack as though I didn't see it.

Cameramen were everywhere- no way. A challenge directly after another? No way! I went to the cabin and got my whistle- I had to be prepared. I woke Cameron and I began trying to teach him how to do a push-up. He had a book and I told him to go nuts- I noticed Brick marching over to Dawn at the campfire pit and I decided to go see what was happening.

I heard some of what they were saying as I snuck up behind Jarhead. Dawn noticed me and smiled a little bit. "It's right there in your aura… Between your bladder control issues and your need to be dominated…" that was what I heard her say before she walked away.

"I don't need to be dominated…" Brick whispered, before stating firmly, "I'm large and in charge!"

Time to screw with Brick-House. I blew my whistle loudly and shouted, "Ten hut!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" he shouted, smacking himself in the face with a small log and falling flat on his back. I grinned- Brick was such a goofball.

Quickly I spoke. "Playin' patty-cakes with the new playmates, huh?" I asked teasingly. "Well enjoy the honeymoon, G.I Joke. Cuz today we're bringin' the pain."

He jumped back up off the ground and shouted at me, "Negative that! Your platoon has zero morale! That's what happens when you lose Your Best Soldier!" He poked at my chest angrily as he spoke. I don't think he realized that he was poking my boobs, but it was uncomfortable all the same…

I shoved my hands against his chest and I said, "Listen, Brick-for-Brains! We don't need you…!" I took my hands off his chest, but inwardly I didn't really want to… I noticed the look on Brick's face as I said that- he looked hurt. Maybe I shouldn't have used that wording… But I continued by saying, "I'm a champion sprinter, shot-putter, and squat thruster!" I demonstrated the squat-thrusting as I told him, and Brick was just staring at me, still looking hurt and shocked. I then motioned to Cameron and his book and I said, "And I'm whipping these limp noodles into shape…!" Then I looked back to Brick and proudly placed my hands on my hips. He scanned my face, as I scanned his, and I swear the tension in the air was thick enough to scoop with a shovel.

Brick looked at the ground then and he frowned in a way that simply screamed –disappointed. I let my hands fall to my sides and I asked gently, "Wanna head to the mess hall?" He blinked up at me, but smiled and nodded in response. Almost immediately after we started walking, we heard a high pitched scream. I flinched when it happened, Brick jumped, and we each looked to see if the other had been afraid.

"What was that?" Brick asked.

I shrugged. "No clue…" I mumbled before continuing our walk. We went into the mess hall, where Mike and Zoey already were sitting and talking at the table closest to the window. I rolled my eyes as I noticed the two of them nervously giggling at each other and blushing. I took one step and I froze- glancing at Brick. He was looking at Mike and Zoey, and sure enough he glanced expectantly over in my direction. He noticed that I was looking at him and his face went red- I quickly looked away, feeling my cheeks redden in response. I don't think he looked away from me, though, because I could still fell those deep black eyes on the back of my head.

The food today looked like turkey legs, apples, and…intestines…? Gross…! How could Brick stomach eating this stuff? He went to sit next to me, but he stopped halfway between the tables. It must've been uncomfortable not knowing where to sit. After a moment of looking to me for silent advice, Brick sat across from me at the other table with the Rats.

Lightning was being weird, talking about shrinkage and yelling at Dawn. We heard the speaker and we gathered around in the center of the mess hall. Chris announced to us that we had ten minutes to exit. "Before I release the raccoon!" he threatened.

Brick was on the exact opposite side of the group, but I saw him looking at me across the faces between us. Anne Maria commented, "The raccoon?" And everyone began laughing. I didn't, I just smiled and watched Brick smiling. His smile was so precious… Then a giant box was lowered behind us and everyone's smiles faded. That wasn't ten minutes! A giant raccoon broke open the box and roared at us- we all sprinted out of the mess hall as fast as possible.

We lined up outside in front of where Chris was standing. Brick right beside me like always. Even when we were on opposite teams! Maybe Dawn was right…! Brick was following me even when we were enemies!

"That thing could've killed us!" I shouted at Chris; noting out of the corner of my eyes that Brick was looking at me.

"Nah," he replied, "Only if you got between him and food…!" Chris scanned the group and said, "Rats, still seems you're missing a player…" Lightning flew through the window, screaming, and he said with a laugh, "Never mind…"

He told us to go get our swimsuits on. My eyes widened instantaneously- what? We'd been soaked dozens of times already and now he finally decided it was time for suits? Oh, Chris, how I hate you… Let me count the ways… I chuckled to myself at that thought and noticed Brick was giving me a questioning look. I looked away immediately and focused my gaze on the ground.

The three of us Maggot girls went to our cabin side and Zoey quickly began asking which suit she should wear. She picked up a red bikini and said, "Maybe this is too skimpy…"

"Sure not stopping Poof-head over there," I muttered to her, pointing out Anne Maria's extremely skimpy bikini. It was pink, too… And so girly… I wanted to burn it…

I took out my black suit- it was my usual favorite. I threw my sweater onto my bunk and then removed the rest of my clothes before pulling the suit on. After the other two were ready we walked out and began heading to the dock of shame.

"Greetings Jo," I heard behind me. Turning around, I found Dawn smiling at me. Her suit was like a dress- pale purple. So girly… But she was grinning like she had an evil plan and that confused me. She motioned once with her head upward. I looked above her head and felt my eyes widen and my face go hot. Brick was a ways behind her, staring at me- his entire face glowing red. And seeing that made me blush. But then I saw that Brick was wearing his usual navy blue shorts and a white tang top instead of his green shirt. I suddenly wanted to tear that tang top away and see what was hiding underneath.

I looked back at Dawn, and she was smirking at me. I frowned at her and said, "No." Before turning around and stomping after my team. Chris was standing in the center, and Pointy, String Bean, Red, and Tan-job were standing to the right of him. I followed my group and stood with them, waiting for our instruction. I glanced over at the other team and I noted that every boy except for Brick was shirtless. I scowled- why did he have to be the odd one out?

I was surprised by how built Lightning was- he was definitely Eye Candy… But for some reason he just wasn't appealing… Sure he was a jock and he was built, but he still didn't know I was a girl… I'll bet even after this challenge he'll still think I'm a boy… Even after seeing me in this…

Chris said that our first challenge was having one member of the team dive underwater in an old-school suit while the rest of the team pumps them oxygen.

I quickly picked up the head of the suit and stated, "Listen Maggots. I'm diving…!"

"Ey, ey, woah!" Anne Maria quickly argued, "What are you sayin'? None of us can do it?"

I dropped the helmet onto Cameron's head, which caused him to fall flat on the ground. He grumbled, "Jo makes a solid point. I grinned happily.

"Listen to chicken-legs, start pumping air, and don't make me use my whistle!" I said, reaching for neck. When I didn't feel the familiar metal, I quickly snapped, "Alright, who took my whistle?" I glared in every direction, when I heard a loud metallic thud. Looking over at the Rats, I smiled when I saw Brick had the helmet on his head, backwards, and the noise was him slamming his hand into it. Oh, Jarhead… Such a dork always…

I got the suit on, and walked over to Chris. He smiled happily when Brick walked over in his suit and the two of us glared darkly at each other until he shouted for us to go. We hopped into the water, and then I glanced at him, he glanced at me, and we started running. I ran as hard as I could, but everything was so much slower underwater. I kept going, thinking Brick was still beside me. I had no idea he was being attacked by Fang…

I was so close to our skis. So very close! And then suddenly I didn't have air. I grabbed the hose, tugging on it hard. I needed air! What were they doing up there? AIR! And thankfully it was finally sent to me. I inhaled deeply and then returned to running to the skis.

I was so close to getting them. But then I was suddenly slammed into the ground by an unseen force. I lay there, groaning to myself… Finally I was able to get up and get out of the water. I took off the diving suit and I grumbled angrily about nearly suffocating. I stood in my suit, noticing that Brick wasn't back. Where had he gone? He wasn't underwater when I came up…

And then, speak of the devil, he showed up. He shouted, "Rat company!" And I had a harder time deciphering the last part. It sounded like "You forgot me"… I felt bad for him… And then he saluted, shouting about victory from the Maggots and I smirked.

Chris announced that the Rats' prize was a speedboat, and ours was a leaky dingy. Yay… He started explaining that our task was to ring bells on harmless buoys that were actually mines, and one exploded, sending the guest player from the last three seasons- Bridgette flying toward us and onto the dock. He laughed at her, but I wasn't listening. I was watching Brick take off the diving suit.

He pulled off the torn suit, and it revealed that his tang top had gone about halfway up his stomach. I saw a six pack on him and immediately I was smiling. Brick was built! I knew he had been, but now I was finally able to see it…! I felt like my smile was incredibly girly, but I didn't care. Okay, so maybe I did have a teensy little crush on Brick… I couldn't force myself to look away from that boy- nothing would make me look away. Even after he pulled his tang top back down and put his fists on his hips. Subconsciously I felt myself take the same pose as him as I smiled like a love-struck teenager at Brick. In the back of my mind I heard Chris insulting our ship, but all I was listening to was my inner monologue about how cute Brick's legs and butt were… So maybe Dawn had been right. Maybe I really liked Brick.

Chris suddenly mentioned a gull cannon and I snapped out of my Brick induced trance. I liked cannons. He told us to choose someone to drive, to gun, and the rest of our team would ski.

Zoey said she'd rive. Then she asked, "If that's okay with everyone…?" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Whatever," I said, walking to the dingy, "I'm gunning…" I hopped onto the rubber and I turned to find Zoe glaring and growling angrily. I said calmly to her, "I see your anger and I like it. Now use it to drive us all the way to victory…!"

We waited for the word from Chris, and once we were told to go, we did. Unfortunately our ship didn't go very fast… As we drove, Cameron shouted at us to drive faster. I quickly said, "Let's see if we can slow down those Rats…!"

"Wait! We only have three gulls!" Zoe quickly said, "We need to save them for the bells!"

"Of course!" I said, "But we only need to hit two out of three to win!" And I fired, aiming straight for Lightning. It was a perfect hit. And immediately their boat went into the reeds. As we passed them, I laughed and mocked, "Aw, Rats…!" I began taking aim for the next bell, but just as I was about to pull the trigger, a gull sped past me and it hit its mark.

"Great shot, Jo!" Zoe said.

Glaring behind me, I replied, "That wasn't me…!" I heard the Rats cheering, and we had to try and find some way to keep winning. They went past us, but they suddenly stopped after passing a buoy. Mike was shouting in Svetlana's voice, and he flipped over our boat and he hit a bell perfectly. After another moment, I noticed that the Rats were going again. Scowling, I took aim to get them out, but suddenly the gun jammed. I shouted at it, punching the side, and then it exploded.

Zoe quickly asked, with a gasp, "Are you okay?"

Turning and coughing up a feather, I shouted, pointing ahead, "Look out!" But it was too late. We crashed into a rock and we were sent flying. We crashed and landed everywhere. Cameron landed on the motor and he said something about his vertebrate… I wasn't listening- everything hurt too badly for me to listen… So much pain…

After a little arguing between Anne Maria and Zoe, I stood and stated, "Time to take one for the team, String Bean!"

"And by take one, you mean…?" he began before I grabbed hold of him and tossed him effortlessly across the air and toward the last mine. He slammed into Lightning, they fell onto the mine, and then it blew up.

After we made our way to the shore, we all congratulated Cameron, because he landed on the bottom and on the mine. We won. "You really came through for us Beansprout. Well done," I said, giving him a thumbs up. He was on a gurney and he was in bandages, but he should be fine.

I glanced back at the Rats and I smiled when I saw Brick bent over, gasping for air. I heard Scott mentioning me, and then Dawn said my name, sounding angrier at Scott than anything… We all walked back to the cabins, but I slowed and walked beside Brick.

He smiled warmly at me and I said teasingly, "You look good wet, Jarhead…" His eyes widened and his cheeks reddened and I laughed at him. "You should see your face…!" I giggled happily.

"That wasn't funny…!" he almost whined, folding his arms across his chest.

Looking at him, I smirked, put my hand on my left hip before bumping him with the right side of my hips. He reacted to that beautifully- gasping, turning completely red, and flailing his arms ever so slightly in surprise. After laughing at him again, I walked off. "See ya later, Captain whizz!" I said, waving my right hand, keeping my left on my hip.

I went to the cabin and changed my clothes back to my sweatpants and sweater. And then we were called outside by Scott. To my surprise he and Dawn were there. And Scott handed us all of our missing stuff. When someone asked where it came from, he looked at Dawn. My eyes widened and I looked at Dawn in shock. She looked at me pleadingly and immediately I knew she hadn't stolen anything.

"Friends, please…! I was framed!" she whimpered.

Anne Maria spat, "Forget that! You're getting' a beat down!"

Fearing for my friend, I blew my whistle, holding out my arm to block her. "Hold it, Maggot! This one's mine!" I moved to Dawn, making it look like I was going to attack her, but what I was doing was silently asking her who had done it. Scott spoke.

"Ladies, ladies…! This is a Rat problem…! And we'll deal with this Rat tonight…" he said. As I scanned Dawn's eyes, somehow I knew it wasn't her. I knew somehow that it was Scott.

Everyone began walking away, but I was last to leave. I was glaring at Scott. I didn't trust his word for a minute. I walked off and sat on the steps of the Maggot cabin, scowling at the ground. I heard footsteps approach me and I saw it was Dawn. "Jo, you believe me, don't you?" she asked, looking terrified.

I nodded my head and said, "If I could, I'd vote for Freckle-face… I know you wouldn't do crap like this, Dawn… It's not like you…" She smiled softly at me and walked away.

A little while after, Brick approached me. I smiled gently at him and he asked, "What was she saying to you?"

Frowning, I simply said, "Don't vote for her tonight." He blinked and scanned my face. Furrowing my brow, I said simply, "She didn't do it."

"How do you know?" he asked. The instant he did my mind flashed back to when I asked Dawn the exact same question last night. My eyes widened for a brief second, but then my facial expression hardened all the more with determination.

I quickly replied, "I have no way of knowing one-hundred percent… But I can just feel it…" Pausing and blushing slightly with embarrassment, I muttered, "I can sense it…" Brick was staring at me like I was an alien from Jupiter that had just said it was having triplet puppy-monkey children. Scowling darkly at him, I spat simply, "She's a good person."

"But the stuff was in her bag!" he protested.

Gritting my teeth, I jumped to my feet and shouted at him, "She talked to me last night! I got to know her! She wouldn't do crap like that!"

I was pointing in his face and Brick was looking from my finger to my face, biting his lip. "How do I know you're just not trying to get me voted off?" he asked.

That was it! Growling, I screamed, "She cheered me up when I-!" I stopped. Throwing my fists down to my sides, I spat, "Forget it! Vote for Dawn- see what happens!" And I stormed into the cabin.

I slid down the wall once I was inside and I stared at the ground, a look of depression plastered on my face. "Jo?" it was Zoe. I looked up at her and she asked softly, "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" I asked, wiping away a stray tear from the corner of my eye.

She walked over to me and asked, "What happened?"

I scowled and replied, "Brick's being stupid." She gave me an incredibly confused look and I mumbled, "Forget it…" She went back to her bunk and began brushing out her hair while Anne Maria sprayed her own. The smell of hairspray in this side of the cabin was so thick at all times it was stifling. I had to get air…

Stepping back outside, I sat on the steps and waited for the Rats to come back. I watched as Scott walked in the front, grinning devilishly, and Sam followed him with a game console. Lightning was in the middle, mumbling about protein, and then taking up the rear was Brick. He was looking at the ground and all I could see was a look of terrible guilt- he had voted for Dawn.

He looked up at me and I sent him a glare that shot daggers and bullets and fireballs. He flinched and I could see it in his eyes that he knew I knew. I was so angry- Dawn was my first friend in forever! I watched Brick walk back to his new cabin and I thought about what had gone on today. Dawn had been right; everything between us was completely back to normal- with the minor exception that now I knew Brick liked me and I wanted to mess with it a little… Plus he didn't know that I knew, and that made it better. I didn't want to lead him on- that made me feel like my stomach was turning over. Brick was too nice to do something that horrible to him…

Of course, trying to impress him wouldn't be too bad… Especially if he finally notices that I…sort of… maybe… like him….. Oh, okay- I could practically see Dawn in my head frowning at me. I had been checking Brick out during today's challenge! If that wasn't the girliest crush symptom…

Sitting by myself, I wondered what Brick liked about me… No boy had ever even thought I was pretty before! Maybe he liked that I was as athletic as he was… It seemed like a good reason… Or maybe he liked independent women… Or maybe he liked it when I toyed with him… I couldn't really think of any good qualities about myself… I had never tried before- was there anything appealing about me?

Now, Brick on the other hand. I could think of dozens of reasons why he was appealing…! He's strong, he's brave, unless it involves the dark, he's willing to fight through pain, he's loyal, he's a sweetheart in every way, he's a goober when he wants to be, he's a good sport, he's got a really cute cleft in his chin, his crew cut suited the shape of his head, he's really well built, he's got a well-rounded personality, he's got a cute butt, he's great at following instructions. Gosh, I really could name dozens of reasons!

I could feel myself blushing, but since I was alone I didn't care. I admit it- I like Brick. Who wouldn't? I smiled as I thought about how I could try and tell him… I couldn't just suddenly act all nice- that would scare him off… He's used to mean and nasty Jo. Blushy, lovey-dovey Jo would terrify him… Right? Geeze, I didn't even know how to go about this! Well… If he likes me now, then I should keep being myself… He likes this Jo, doesn't he? I wish Dawn had told me why Brick liked me…

Eventually I just went to bed. Thinking like this was making me feel girly and pathetic. I needed to rest on it and let my mind spill over all my options…

When I woke up early the next morning I hurried outside and began my morning run. I officially missed having Brick on my team. Not having him sit with me during mealtime, not hearing his obnoxious alarm clock when I went out- the little things… I ran and ran, trying to envision Brick was running in front of me and I was losing a race to him. Envisioning him did help, because it kept me motivated to go faster, but it also made me distracted. I kept wondering what would happen if I lost a race to him. Would he be as horrible as I always was? No… Brick was a good guy- Dawn said so…

I was going off of what Dawn told me a lot lately… I needed to judge by what I had experienced with Brick… All the times where his adorable idiocy made me smile. All the times he congratulated me after I won our races. All the times where he would just follow me and smile at me for no reason. Yeah- I knew Brick. I could follow my own experiences and I figured I'd at least know how to keep a friendship with Brick. Or at least our rivalry/friendship…

I came back to the camp ground and I was happy to find him heading to the mess hall with the others for breakfast. I ran up behind him and playfully shoved him forward; not as hard as I would have if I were serious, but hard enough to nearly knock him over.

When he stumbled forward, he quickly turned around, looking mad at first, but then his face quickly softened upon seeing me. Grinning, I said, "Morning, Dampy-Pants!"

He pouted at me upon the nickname, but he quickly asked with a smile, "That's how you're saying good morning now? By pushing me?"

"I figured you'd like it," I said, chuckling and walking beside him to the mess hall.

Smiling, he said, "Well it's definitely you…" My eyes lit up and I swore my ears perked up- me! Maybe Brick was into how I was never afraid to do whatever I wanted to do? No, no, no! Stop it, Jo! You'll figure this out! Just be patient and see what happens! He'll try something again eventually, right? If he's been following me since day one, he's gotta try something sooner or later…

I got my food after Brick did, and he sat at the Rats' table. I pushed Lightning's tray out of my way, along with Lightning himself, and I sat beside him. I knew everyone staring at me in shock, but I ignored the looks. Smirking at Brick, I asked, "Wanna see who can eat this gruel fastest?" He smiled happily at me and said it was on. We began our eating competition, but it was interrupted.

"Hey, bro, why'd you push the Lightning?" Lightning asked me.

I scowled- there it was again! Lightning was calling me a boy! I gripped my spoon until it snapped- the metal spoon snapped in half. Brick flinched beside me, Lightning jumped away from me on the bench, Scott's eyes twitched and widened, and Sam gasped and scooted away.

"Hey, uh, easy Jo," it was Brick telling me, "We can finish our eating contest if you want…"

I turned my head to him and I asked, "With what? My half a spoon?"

"You uh, you could use mine…!" he offered. I blinked and stared at him incredulously- his cheeks were reddening steadily as I looked at him. I knew he liked me, but I had no idea he was this open about it in front of his teammates! His deep black eyes were scanning my face, and I could tell he was really hoping that I'd say yes.

Swallowing, I replied, "Nah, I'm not really that hungry for this slop." I saw the disappointment in his face, but I hoped he'd understand. I pushed myself away from the table and said I was going for a swim.

Brick jumped to his feet, saying eagerly, "I'll go with you!" I turned to look at him, smiling that horribly girly smile that had been plastered on my face yesterday, and I walked with him out to the dock of shame. He was a bit confused, but once I pulled off my sweater he understood that I wasn't putting a suit on. I took off my sweatpants, showing that underneath I had a pair of black shorts. I set my clothes down on the dock and I put my hands on my hips, looking at Brick expectantly. He was just looking at me, smiling dopily. I smirked at him and just waited: Brick was checking me out! Had he done that during the challenge yesterday? Oh, I really hoped so!

I think my face lost all its color at once when Brick began removing his shirt. I saw the six pack again and then the color came flooding back, all of it settling in my cheeks. I swore I was blushing so hard you could use my face to make s'more's. He pulled the green fabric up and off, showing that he was just as fit as Lightning. His build was slightly different, however- his chest was more toned and his ribs were wider and it made his muscles look even bigger. Gosh, those pectorals! He was an absolute vision of physical perfection!

He smiled nervously at me and said, "I, uh, hope it's okay I don't have anything covering me…"

"I don't mind at all," I replied, my eyes hungrily exploring every inch of his chest. I wonder if he's noticing that I'm staring. Is he mad? Immediately I looked back at Brick's face and I saw him put his dog tags back around his neck- he hadn't noticed…!

He looked at me and I smirked before jumping right into the water. There were sharks and other horrible creatures in the water, but as long as I swam continuously they couldn't do much to me. Brick hopped in after me and I challenged him to a race around the island back to the dock. He accepted my challenge and we both began swimming as fast as we could. He had excellent form; I'm not going to lie about that. But I was still determined to beat him, so I kept swimming.

I won, as usual, and we stepped onto the sand, dripping and shivering. Brick looked at me and rushed onto the dock. I slowly followed, rubbing my hands against my arms, and I smiled when Brick handed me my sweater. "Ma'am," he said, smiling in a way I had only seen him smile when we were climbing Mount Looming Tragedy- like he was dizzy with affection.

He handed the sweater to me and I smiled as our hands brushed up against each other's- Brick was blushing. Was I? Oh, God, I hoped not! I'd be a hypocrite if Brick and I became like Mike and Zoey! We weren't romantic, yet, but if we were as awkward I think I'd have to kill myself. I let the sweater slip over my head and then Brick handed me my sweatpants. I think those could wait… I took them, though, and I thanked him.

"You never win, you know that?" I asked with a grin. We started walking back to the cabins and he quickly responded.

"I'm just not as fast as you," he said, smiling nervously at the end of his comment. I had a feeling he was trying to compliment me, but I wanted to hear it from him. "You're incredible…"

I blinked and looked at him with wide-eyes. I quickly feigned teasing him, by saying in a singsong voice, "Aw, that's so sweet of you Brick-House…! You think I'm incredible…!" His face went red and he pouted at me. Laughing a little, I said, "I knew what you meant… Thanks, Brick…" His face quickly lightened. I told him I needed to change and said I'd talk to him later.

Once I got inside the cabin, I smiled and quickly went to change. Once my shorts and shirt were both dry, I figured I may as well just stay in my sweatpants and a black t-shirt. I never really went anywhere without my sweater, though…. Mm… I took the sweater…

Walking outside the cabin, I stopped Cameron as he was walking. "Hey, Braniac, I got a question for ya," I said, grabbing the hood of his sweater.

He swallowed nervously and asked, "Yes, Jo?"

"Why's Lightning think I'm a guy? Is there some scientific reason?" I asked.

He blinked and looked relieved to find that I wasn't about to kill him. He rubbed his chin before saying, "Well I think it may be that your hip to waist ratio isn't as noticeable as Zoey's or Dawn's… For an example…"

"Whaddoes that mean?" I asked.

"It means the difference in the size of your waist, compared to the circumference of your hips… Now the difference for you is notably small, but that's because you're all muscle, unlike Zoey, who's just extremely skinny… He also thinks girls aren't as athletic as he is, so he probably thinks you're a guy… Or he's not willing to admit he's lost to a girl…" Cameron said softly. He thought on it a bit more before saying, "He could also see your constant yelling as masculine and that might be why… And the fact that you and Brick are always together… I don't think he thinks guys and girls can be friends without being boyfriend and girlfriend, so he might think you're a guy because of that…"

I scowled ahead of me. I was slightly embarrassed by what Cameron has just said, but it wasn't the kind of embarrassment that would make me blush. It was the kind that made me angry. Brick and I were rivals, and sure, I liked him, but I knew we were friends before anything. And my hip to waist ratio? That made me semi-self-conscious. Wouldn't a guy like Brick like a girl with a tiny waist? Or… maybe he liked the fact that I was all muscle… Like he was…

Returning my attention to Cameron, I said, "thanks String-Bean. You're one smart nerd…" And then I walked away.

I sat in the mess hall, with paper and markers. Dawn had left them for me, and currently I was doodling pictures of Brick punching Fang. It made me smile to imagine it being real. Zoey joined me and asked if she could draw too. I told her I didn't care, and soon she was sketching Mike. I wasn't sure how much I could hate her when I was sitting here thinking of Brick- we were two of a kind, I guess… Well… Not really… We were nothing alike…

"So, Pigtails, who do you like?" I asked, as if I didn't know…

She smiled, her cheeks blazing, and said, "Mike… He's just so sweet and so cool!" I raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything. She turned and asked me, "Do you like anyone here?"

I had been hoping she wouldn't ask. Because once she did I was all thrown off. I fumbled, dropping my marker, turning red, and quickly stammering, "Oh, uh…! N-nobody in particular…!"

Zoey blinked and stared at me with wide brown eyes. "Oh my God, you actually do like someone…!" she whispered. I glared at her, but my blushing face betrayed me. She was suddenly right in my face and she asked eagerly, "Who? Who? You can tell me!"

I stared at her in shock, not responding. I stared at her eyes- so afraid that if I even looked away something would give me away. And then I heard footsteps. I glanced to my right and I saw Brick standing in the doorway. I quickly looked back at Zoey, but I knew that now I looked slightly more afraid. And I think she noticed.

Zoey turned her head and she looked at Brick. She looked back at me and then gasped, "Oh my God, it's Bri-…!" I slammed my hand over her mouth as quickly as I possibly could. I was trying to glare at her, but all I was managing was to stare at her as hard as I could with my eyes wide open.

Brick looked at us in utter confusion and I quickly asked, "C-could you give us a minute, Brick?" He still looked confused out of his mind, but he left the mess hall.

I removed my hand from Zoey's mouth and I glared at her. She was squeaking with delight, though. "Oh my gosh! You like Brick! This is so cute!" She was clapping her hands together. Lucky for me she was whispering her joy.

Quickly I retorted, "No, we're just rivals…!" I was whispering, too.

"Oh, yeah, right," she said, quickly putting one hand on her hip in an 'oh no you didn't' manner. "If you didn't like him you wouldn't have shut me up like that…!" I made to argue when she said, "If I had said what I was gonna say he wouldn't have understood without the context…"

Damn. She was right. I had given myself away. I slammed my head into the table, causing Zoey to scream. Brick ran back into the mess hall, asking what was going on, and I slammed my head into the table again. Immediately I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I knew Brick was trying to stop me from hurting myself. He forced my shoulders up and my torso into a sitting position. He held me there with one hand while his free one touched my forehead, feeling for bruises.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zoey's face lighting up. Her eyes were widening, her mouth was falling open and into a smile, and the knowing in her eyes was so powerful I knew immediately that she knew.

Groaning at her grin, I slammed my head back down into the table and rammed it down four times, fighting against Brick's hands as he shouted, "Jo! Stop!" He was strong- I was barely able to keep slamming my face into the table. Finally he shoved me back into a sitting position and I was forced to stare into his deep black eyes. He said calmly to me, "Stop…" And I did.

I looked back at Zoey and I could tell this was like one of her romance novels come to life for her. She looked like she would start squealing any minute now. Brick was running his fingers along my forehead again, but I needed to talk to Zoey.

Pushing his hand away, I mumbled, "Brick, I'm fine… Please go away; I need to talk with Zoey…" He looked surprised and worried and scared for me all in one facial expression. I looked at him pleadingly and he nodded once before leaving us alone.

I looked at Zoey and she whispered, "You two are already dating?"

My face went pink. "What?" I squeaked, "No!"

"But he-!" she began, but I interrupted.

"He doesn't know I like him yet…!" I shouted in a whisper.

Zoey blinked a few times and she whispered, "Are you serious?"

Scowling I spat, "Well Mike doesn't know if you like him yet, does he?"

"Well, no, I haven't told him exactly…" she whispered, "But I've been sending him hints…"

"So you can't look down on me," I stated in affirmation. She looked at me uncertainly at first, but then she smiled.

"You two are perfect for each other," she said with a smile. My face went red and I glared at her.

"Shut up…" I muttered, looking at the wall. Zoey just giggled at me and went back to drawing pictures of Mike. I glanced at her once and smiled nervously- were we really perfect for each other? The idea made me hopeful that things might work out between us.

**Yay! Last scene of fun Jock! Zoey walked in on it and now she knows! WOOT! I added that scene in because I think it might build up for more of why Jo's suddenly so weird in Runaway Model… Of course, there is more to it, though… But for now we'll settle for this… I love the cave episode- whatever it's called… Jo's so strangely nice to Brick in that one. It may not seem it- but if you think on it once I type that chapter you'll see why I think she was being nice.**


	6. Chapter 6

**This episode… Oh my gosh, this episode…! I absolutely loved this episode of Total Drama! So much could be morphed into Jock! Haha! And then the next one… My only regret is that it's in Jo's perspective… There's so much Brick says and does that I want to write about! GAH! **

**Brick-House-** Chapter Six- Runaway Model

After the conversation with Zoey the other day, she had suddenly become like a… friend to me almost…! It was really weird- she was always talking with me in the mornings and she'd constantly be discussing with me about how to get guys' attention. Usually I just sat and didn't say anything in response. I didn't know anything about getting guys' attention…! And if I did, I wasn't gonna tell her! We weren't friends- but she apparently found a way to connect with me by finding out I had emotions. Maybe she saw me as more human… I heard she didn't like jocks- why was she so friendly with me then?

On a daily basis I would have to get ready with her and Poof-head; let's just say they were both extremely girly, taking at least fifteen minutes just to do their hair… But now that Zoey was being clingy, she apparently expected me to take her side for things when Anne Maria and she started fighting. It was mortifying- I hated girly crap! And now I was being asked to do girly stuff like this!

We were in the communal washroom at the moment, and Zoey was offering to do my hair. I turned her down, and she whispered, "Brick might like it…" Immediately I growled at her and sent her a death glare. She backed away and I heard a knock on the door.

"Uh, hello?" Cameron called, "Is it our turn yet?"

Anne Maria quickly shouted, "Ah, keep yo panties on…!" She then turned to Zoey and mocked, "Yeesh, nice hair… Looks like Princess Leia lost a scissor fight…"

My eyes widened slightly- I didn't think Anne Maria knew anything about Star Wars… But then Zoey quickly argued, "Actually it's more like Queen Amidala…" My eyes narrowed and I leaned away from Zoey- looks like both of them knew too much about Star Wars…

"More like Queen ImmaDorka," Anne Maria said before reaching into her bag and beginning to spray the crap out of her hair. Zoey and I choked on the fumes. She flicked her hair, which was hard and stiff like a helmet, and she said; "Now that is how you do hair."

Standing over where I was, closest to the wall, I mumbled, "I'll pass on the frilly girly hair care, thank you." I then took out my razor and began buzzing away at the hair on my face. I knew it creeped the two of them out- I had done it before. That's why I purposely did it in front of them.

We all walked out afterwards and past Bubble Boy and Pointy, and I heard shouting from the Rats' cabin. It sounded like Sam. I grinned to myself and headed toward the forest when over the speaker Chris shouted for us to meet him on the other side of the island. Shrugging, I began walking almost immediately.

After heading about halfway to the trees, I heard a voice far behind me shout, "Jo! Wait up!" I turned my head and smiled to see Brick running over to where I was. I saw Zoey grinning, but I ignored it and waited for Brick. He stopped at my right and gasped a little bit before smiling brightly at me.

I shook my head at him and began walking again, this time with Brick walking by my side. If he had done this in the first week on the island I would've thought it was creepy or annoying, but now that I really had gotten to know him and had come to terms with how I felt about him I thought it was sweet. Even on separate teams he wasn't afraid to follow me everywhere. Even with a team full of guys who would kick him out the instant they found out he had a weakness for the other team.

"So, um, whaddyou think the challenge is gonna be, Jo?" he asked nervously. I smirked at his attempt to start a normal conversation.

Quickly, I replied, "Whatever it is, I'll be sure to kick your butt…" He blinked, pouted, and argued that he wouldn't let me win again. Folding my arms across my chest, I stated, moving my head and leaning right in his face, "Try it, then…" Brick was just staring at me in response, his cheeks reddening slightly at the proximity of our faces and I smirked when he didn't talk. "Didn't think so," I said before turning forward again and walking a little faster.

Brick blinked and jumped after me, shouting, "Hey, wait!" I laughed and began jogging away from him. He noticed and quickly ran after me. So I ran faster and I beat him to where Chris had us meeting: the stage from the first season's talent show. The two separate sets of bleachers obviously meant we'd be sitting with our teams, so I took the one closest to me. Brick looked like he wanted to sit next to me, but he had to go to the other bleacher.

When the rest of my team showed up, Mike mentioned Zoey's hair and she commented on Anne Maria's. I looked at the tan girl and scowled. Chris showed up, his hair white as snow and in a ponytail- can anybody say homosexual? He told us our challenge was fashion. Immediately I groaned.

Anne Maria said with a grin, however, "Fashion, now you're talkin'!"

"Ulgh…! Fashion…!" I grumbled, "Waste of time…!"

"So says the girl in men's prison sweats," Anne Maria said.

I snapped my head in her direction and I spat, "Hey, nobody needs to be reminded that I'm a girl…!" I was glaring and pointing at her, growling angrily.

"Sorry, who's a girl?" I heard Lightning say on the opposite side and my head snapped in his direction. I was ready to jump to my feet and murder him, but then Chris blared the air horn at us again and we all stopped.

"You're not walking the catwalk," he told us, "No, no, no, no. No amount of fashion can help you people…!" He laughed at us. He then explained we'd get a wardrobe suitcase, a make-up kit, and ten minutes to dress a model… He introduced Lindsay as the special cameo cast member, but I hated her.

"Wow!" Zoey shouted, "We get to dress an actual model!"

"Uh-huh," Chris said with a grin, "Right after you catch one…"

I waved my hand as I said, "Catch a model? Child's play. The way they eat they'll pass out after three steps." I held up three fingers to illustrate my point.

Chris proved me wrong by saying the models weren't human and that they were in the forest. He told us to go and blew the horn again, deafening all of us. My team quickly ran off into the bushes, and I began walking near String Bean. He pointed out a beaver near a bush, and I stood back and waited. He jumped on it, but it turned out to be attached to a giant land angler-fish. We each screamed and ran away.

Once we got away, we gathered with the other teammates and Cameron offered, "Hey guys, what about that slimy maggot? The one that's the size of a beagle…" Everyone walked over to he and I and he said, "It'd be a synch to catch, and dress…! We could just… slide it down the runway…"

I grinned, patting him on the back, saying, "Killer idea Bubble-boy…!"

"Alright, step aside an' lemme work!" Anne Maria said, stepping forward, "This maggot's gotta look bangin'!"

We all stood and watched as she dressed it with a big shirt, a hat, and a chain around its neck. I may not know fashion, but I knew it was ugly. She asked when she was done, "Do I got style or what?"

That maggot puked and Mike said, "Um, I agree with the maggot…"

Chris announced, "Three minutes remaining!"

I blinked, threw my hands up, and shouted, "We're running out of time!"

Zoey quickly said, "If you guys don't mind, I'll take a crack at it…" She had looked at me, but I didn't really care… I rolled my eyes and watched her take polka-dot fabric and begin wrapping the maggot.

She finished and said, "There. Whaddyou think? Too much? Too little? Be honest. Oh, unless you hate it…"

Cameron commented that it wasn't bad, Anne Maria said it wasn't good either, Chris announced one minute remaining, and I spat, "It's fine! We're not spending all day on this…! Let's get back to Chris…" And the team agreed, following me.

We got back to the stage and we decided Anne Maria would announce the maggot. Chris said, pointing to us, "Maggoteers, show me something fierce!" He then addressed Chef and our maggot began squirming onto the runway.

Chris commented, "Little gross what with the oozing and squirming…" after Anne Maria spoke in an unenthusiastic drawl, "I give it an eight point five!" We were all ecstatic, and then Chef gave it an 8.0. Then Lindsay held up 1.8 and the maggot puked at her. She flipped hers, and I saw Chef flip his as he had been the one hit by the goop.

Chris announced for the Rats, but for a few seconds nobody came out. When someone did, it was Sam, running and screaming. The others followed him and I saw sheer terror on all of their faces. He announced the yeti wearing stripes, and it punched Lightning, then Brick, then Scott, and then it picked up Sam. I hurried over to Brick and helped him up- he thanked me and rubbed his back- he had slammed into a tree.

I went back to my group as the yeti began going on a rampage. Then it grabbed Lindsay and flew off with Chris's jetpack- and that was all he cared about… He said something for the show about commercials and he had us all walk to the dock of shame. Brick walked near me, still rubbing his back. I felt bad- that must've been painful considering how huge the yeti was… But then I suddenly felt sad when Brick was focusing more on his teammates and talking with Sam. He always was right next to me, but when we gathered he stood beside Sam.

Chris was on the phone panicking about being liable, and then he laughed awkwardly before telling us our next challenge was to rescue Lindsay. I put my hand on my chin and pondered that he was just trying to help himself. We all got canoes and began paddling to Boney Island.

I was in the front of my canoe, as I should, and then we began running. Zoey was behind me and Scott not far behind her. She was calling for Lindsay, and then I saw her stop for Scott- who was apparently sad. And then I kept on running. We reached a spot with scaffolding and Cameron pointed out the yeti.

I stopped and glanced up, then I smiled a little when I saw Brick stop right beside me- maybe I had just been paranoid earlier… I looked back at the yeti, and Scott asked about the scaffolding. Apparently Chris was making the island a resort.

Lindsay shouted down to us from the yeti's arms, "DON'T HURT HIM! HE JUST HAS BIG HAIRY BODY ISSUES!"

Instantly I touched my face, muttering under my breath, "I hear that…" Everyone looked at me and I quickly said, "I mean, uh, did you hear that! He's got issues! We've gotta take that psycho yeti out!" Brick had been staring at me- now I felt self-conscious… I hoped my face wasn't red. That would've given me away…

He grabbed a duffle bag and said with a smile, "that is what team Rat is going to do!" And he ran off ahead. I was confused- what would a duffle bag do to solve this? He threw the bag up at the yeti, shouting, "Take this hairball!"

It exploded horrible children's clothes onto the yeti and everyone began laughing, even me! It was funny- I couldn't help it! The yeti began spazzing and it ripped its shirt. Everyone gasped slightly and then the boys gathered to discuss options. Brick was hunched forward before Lightning shouted, "Team men, go!"

Zoey asked, "How are we gonna rescue Lindsay before they do?"

"Maybe we could get someone prettier than Lindsay to lure the yeti away…!" Cameron offered.

Immediately little-miss-ego stepped forward saying, "'Ey, I got the goods, but I'm not walkin' up that junk pile in these shoes!"

Zoey then said, "Well, I guess maybe I could try…" I scowled darkly- both of them were so full of themselves! I knew one way to solve this.

Slapping her, I stated, "Maggots! Break out the beauty products! I'm going in…!" They all looked at me like I was crazy, but I was firm about it. Finally they shrugged and got out mirrors and make-up and began their work. I heard Lightning to the side of me saying something, but I couldn't see what.

I heard Brick scream and then a loud thud. I take it they got hit by the yeti. I then heard weird music being sung by Sam. And Dakota shouting for him. "Okay, you're sure this will make me look good, right?" I asked.

Anne Maria said, "Oh, yeah, the only person who could give you a smokin' hot make-over like this is me!"

"Or a circus clown," Zoey muttered.

Mike began shouting and then suddenly he was shouting in his old man voice. "Oh, for the love of Pete, you're not painting the Sistine Chapel, it's just make-up!" He pushed the others out of the way and began painting on my face, saying, "Just get some rouge on 'er, and there!"

"Finally…!" I grumbled, pushing him away. Brick walked over to where we were and I tried to look pretty for him. I hoped he liked the make-up. I really really wanted him to like the make-up. I'd never say that aloud, but I desperately wanted to impress Brick. He jumped a little and fainted, I felt like my cheeks were blazing I was so overjoyed.

"Wow! Now I know what they mean by Drop-dead knockout!" I said before laughing happily. Maybe make-up was worth a try? I began walking toward the rock wall, saying, "Oohh Yeti, you're princess is here!"

Cameron told me I should look, but I interrupted, saying, "Relax, that yeti won't know what him 'im…!"

Sam got thrown back to the ground and I kept on hurrying. I stopped at the top and began, "Uh, hey…! Sweet little…" Oh crap! I had no idea what I was doing! I couldn't do this! "Hairball…! Feel like a tall glass of… gorgeous…?" I tried smiling all pretty and posing, but I had no experience with being girly. It was my weakest point. Then Lindsay and the yeti began laughing at me. I was instantly angry.

"Hey, what's so funny you big ape?" I spat, glaring. I ran forward and gave the yeti an uppercut so vicious he went flying into the air and then down onto Sam. I growled darkly, "That'll teach you to laugh at a beautiful lady…!"

Chris flew up and said, "Team Maggot, you've got immunity…!" I heard my team below cheering, but I noticed Lindsay using a mirror and powder. I grabbed it from her and grumbled, "Lemme see that…" I looked into the mirror and gasped in horror. I looked like the Joker!

I growled darkly and spat, "Just add some rouge, huh?" I bent to pick up a barrel near me and I shouted, "Hey Chester, here's a make-over for you!" And then I threw as many of the barrels as I could down at him. He spazzed, shouting, 'whaddid I do' but I kept throwing.

Chris then said, "As much as I'd like to let this go on… forever, it's time to head back to camp. Rats!" he looked down, "You've got some voting to do!"

I finally gave up on killing Mike and I went back down the scaffolding. We all began canoeing back- I had ignored Brick when he had tried to talk to me. Once we got to the island, I wiped the make-up off on my sweater and began stomping forward and away so I could maim something.

Suddenly a hand was on my shoulder and I heard Brick say softly, "Jo, come on…!"

I slapped his hand away and spat, "Go away…!" I couldn't bear to look at him- he had fainted because I was ugly…! How could Brick like me after this?

He smiled warmly at me and said, "Aw, come on, you didn't look that bad…!"

Scowling, I stated plainly, "You passed out because I looked like the Joker, Brick… Don't try lying to me…

Looking at the ground, he muttered, "Okay, it was bad…" I scoffed at that, but what he said next made me want to cry. "But at least now I know that you're pretty without all that caked onto your face…" blushing slightly, he finished by saying, "I like you better when you're just being you…"

I lifted my hands u to my face and held back tears of joy. I was smiling my girly smile and blushing like an absolute fool. "Brick…" I whispered his name and he smiled softly at me in response. I wanted to hug him- should I hug him? Would that be weird? Maybe he'd take it the wrong way… I don't know…

"Um…" I muttered, looking down shyly, "Could I uh…? Um… Well, would it be okay if I hugged you…?" I asked him nervously- this was so weird for me to be nervous. "Nobody's ever called me pretty before…"

Brick's face lit up and he quickly squeaked, "Yeah!" I saw him realize he'd just exclaimed that he liked me, but he stuttered afterwards, "I-I mean, I wouldn't mind if you did… But if you don't want to, I understand…" I cut off his rambling and I threw my arms around Brick's torso. I was so happy at that moment- everything was right in the world. I felt his arms go around me and he held me and hugged me back. I heard him sigh and I nuzzled my chin into his shoulder a little bit, closing my eyes.

The hug lasted a lot longer than it should have- I knew it hinted to him how I felt. I just hoped he'd make the first move… Finally pulling away from him, I said with a smile, "I saw you take the initiative with that kiddy clothes' bomb today, and I gotta say… I like it when you take charge…"

His eyes sparkled with delight upon hearing that and he asked, "Really?"

"Yeah," I said honestly, "It makes you seem like a military squad leader…" He was overjoyed at my compliment, and then I told him trying to leave before anything awkward happened, "I'm uh… Gonna go use the confessional now…"

Once inside, I sat on the seat and took several deep breaths to help me calm down. "Oh wow…!" I breathed excitedly, "I can't believe that just happened…!" Smiling to myself, I practically squealed, "I hugged him!" After letting myself calm down, I thought about the make-up. "I'd do this only for the good of the team!" Glaring at the camera, I muttered, "It's not make-up…! It's war paint!" And then I flipped my hair before turning back and saying, "And if that footage of me and jarhead hugging ends up on the show, I will personally murder you McLean!"

Once I was done I walked outside- Brick was waiting a little ways off to use the confessional. I smiled at him and went to do whatever I felt like doing. Once it was dark, Chris called my team along with the Rats to watch elimination. I didn't understand why…

I sat to Scott's right, who sat to Brick's right, and Chris began. "Well that was a fiasco!" he continued, "Brick, you bagged yourself a fashion fail!" I scowled- don't make fun of him! And Chris said to Sam, "And Sam, you really dropped the barrel on this one…!"

"One of you Rats is going home tonight, but it's not gonna be Lightning or Scott!" he said, tossing them marshmallows. I blinked and immediately I became worried. "And the marshmallow of toxic loserdom goes to…" he paused and all I could think was 'please don't say Brick, please don't say Brick'. "Sam." I inwardly sighed.

He said something about continues, and Brick stood, saying with a salute, "Seperfy!" I think that was what he said, I couldn't really tell…

And then Lightning said, "Siddown, fool!" I glared darkly at him- only I could be mean to Brick! That was my job! I'd kill that jerk…!

Chef hauled off Sam and Chris said, "Now for something very special. Maggots, you're probably wondering why I called you to sit in on this… I'll need a strong volunteer from each team…!"

I glanced at the others and jumped up, saying, "Right here!"

Scott hopped up, saying, "Ditto…!" I glared at him.

"Pack your bags!" Chris said.

Zoey gasped, "You're hurling them too?"

"Nah, I don't give people time to pack before they get hurled…!" he said with a laugh. "These two are switching teams!"

Inside I think I was screaming. I was going to be with Brick again! I didn't know what to do- so I just scowled and sat where Scott had previously sat. But then I frowned and began to worry- what if this ended badly for me…? Oh…

"Welcome to my team!" Brick said sweetly, holding out a hand for me to take.

I looked at it and then thought for a minute. I grabbed his hand and pulled him in toward me. Smirking, with our faces practically right on top of each other's, I said, "No, welcome to MY team…" And I squeezed Brick's hand hard- showing him I meant business. Maybe this wasn't a good way to show him that I liked him… Bu I didn't know what else to do…

Lightning then cheered, "Aw yeah! Team Men remains one-hundred percent dude!" I poked his eyes and he cringed.

I saw Brick cradling his arm away from me, but I was too busy being angry at Lightning. "Get your eyes check, jockstrap!" I spat. I now knew I officially hated Lightning. How hard was it to tell I was a girl? Really? Really?

Everyone then dispersed and I turned back to Brick. He was looking at his hand and I immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry…" I said. He looked at me, blinking and staring at me in surprise, "I didn't mean to squeeze that tightly…"

He smiled slightly and adjusted how he was sitting, saying, "Oh, it's alright… Just a little sore…" He let his hand fall and he looked at me in a way that was oddly new to me. It was like he was finally looking at me for the first time. "You sure are hard to figure out…" he said with a silly grin, "One minute I think you're being sweet, and then you're right back to dominant…"

Putting my hands on my hips, I said, with a smirk, "Well, yeah. If you're not gonna be leader, who better than me?" He blinked at that and I saw that he was instantly thinking. I wondered what he was thinking, but when I saw him rubbing his chin I figured he must really be confused.

Standing up, I said, "I'm gonna go for a run…" I knew he wouldn't want to join me in the dark, and I went off. Speeding past Mike and Zoey, I hopped over rocks and sprinted around trees. I had a good feeling in my stomach right now- I don't know how else to describe it other than I felt like I was on the top of the world. Maybe it was because Brick said he liked me when I was just being me, but if it wasn't, I still liked the feeling.

After my run, I went to get all my stuff from the Maggot cabin. Zoey looked a little sad to see me leave- Anne Maria didn't care, and I didn't really either. I just went ahead and I gathered all my crap into a bag. I took it over to the Rats girlside cabin and I had my pick of any and all bunks. I could sleep on every single one if I wanted to! It was awesome!

I heard a knock on the door and when I turned my head I found Brick standing in the doorway, closing the door behind him. I smiled at him and asked, "Come to tuck me in, Senior Soggypants?"

He blinked and blushed. "Hey…!" he whimpered. I grinned at him when he did.

"Aw relax, I'm just teasin'…" I said, throwing a shoe onto the bunk opposite me. I sat on the bunk behind me and I took off my other one. Brick was still standing in the doorway, he hadn't really moved. I didn't know what he was doing, but I didn't exactly mind him being there.

But then I finally looked up at him. He was smiling his adorable derpy smile and I asked, finding it impossible to smile as well, "What?"

He blinked, seeming to come out of a trance, and he went, "Hm?" I grinned at him and he blushed bright red before stuttering, "Oh! I-I uh… I'm just…" He glanced around before looking right at me and he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "I'm just glad we're on the same team again… I missed having you sleep in the same cabin as me…"

I raised an eyebrow at him, smirking knowingly. He blinked, his ears turning red now along with his face, and he quickly stammered, "W-w-wait! That came out wrong!"

I laughed happily at him. "Geeze Jarhead, you've really got it bad for me, huh?"

His entire face was practically glowing now, and he quickly shouted, "N-no!" I laughed again.

"Whatever," I said, falling back onto my bunk. Chuckling, I said, "You're just too shy to admit that you're in love with me…"

"N-no I'm not!" Brick stammered, his hands going up in front of his chest and his face blazing.

I gave him a 'you were saying?' look and he looked at the ground.

After a moment of awkward silence, Brick said goodnight to me and left. I grinned- I won. Brick was too afraid to admit he liked me. This was perfect. Maybe if I could cuddle up to him a bit more he'd finally say something. Or maybe I should make the first move… No… He needed to figure out that I liked him back first… If I jumped up first he'd be too scared to do anything.

I went to sleep thinking on my options with Brick.

In the morning, I went straight outside. I saw cameramen again. What was with Chris and having challenges one right after each other lately? Grumbling, I thought about going back in, but then an idea came into my head- I was the only girl on the Rats! Oh-ho, this would be fun…!

**Leading up to Jo's…interesting moment in the confessional…**


	7. Chapter 7

**And this chapter… This episode, really… So much Jock… So very much Jock… And then… Well…. I'll just let you read and find out what happens… As told by me…**

**WARNING. THE FOLLOWING EPISODE CONTAINS SCENES OF JOXBRICK LOVE, AS WELL AS ANGST, YELLING, FACE SLAPPING, CHRIS BEING A DOUCHE, BETRAYAL, AND AN ANTICLIMACTIC ENDING. **

**You've been warned….!**

**Brick-House-** Chapter Seven- A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste

After I had thought- I went to go back to the cabin. I paused when someone in a green shirt caught my eye. Brick was lying on his back, lifting a large log above his head much like a dumbbell. I stopped and watched, smiling to myself- there was just something so appealing about a hot guy lying on his back and lifting heavy objects. Then I saw Lightning heading over and he grabbed the log from Brick.

"Think the new guy can do this?" he asked, lifting the log with one arm. I scowled- he still thought I was a guy.

Brick sat up and asked, "Who, Jo?"

Lightning said something about team dude and I saw Brick's face contort into a very uncomfortable expression and I couldn't help but smile. How awkward must it be to talk to someone who thinks the girl you like is a guy? Chuckling, I proceeded to head to the cabin and work out in the nude. I got to one thousand, wrapped a towel around myself and went to the confessional.

"Hey, Chris Mc-Lame. Guess what. You can make me swap teams, but you'll never break me," I said, grinning, "Now I have the girls' side all to myself and I can finally work out like the ancient Olympians…" I paused, then took a pose and said, "Naked!" I then laughed hysterically and dropped the towel down, revealing that I had my clothes on, I was just fooling around- my shirt was folded up around my chest and then I pulled it up. I only had shorts on, but I didn't mind walking back to the cabin in this.

That was a funny prank- I had actually worked out naked, but I wanted to mess with Chris when he put the footage together. He'd be so confused… And probably creeped out… I laughed as I walked into my side of the cabin.

Once I had my sweatshirt and pants on, I stepped outside, and I noticed Brick marching off in one direction while interns dragged luggage everywhere. I didn't understand the interns, but they weren't my concern.

I ran up behind Brick and I called to him with a smile, "Hey Soggy-Drawers! Looks like we're on the same team again….!" I was happy about it.

His immediate response was, "Not quite… You're on my team now, and if you don't do as I say, you'll be the next person to go home…!" I grinned to myself- I loved it when he was bossy…

"We'll see about that, Major Drippy," I said in retaliation, still smirking.

He turned and stopped, holding up three fingers. "Three rules…! Follow them or you're gone…!" I listened intently, letting my face fall to blank. "One. NEVER leave a man behind…! Two. What Brick says, goes. And three. No more nicknames!" I watched him, raising an eyebrow- not because I was confused, but because I was impressed. Suddenly Brick had a backbone! And he was really showing it…! "Like Dampypants, o-or… Wetness… Or… Sir-leaks-a-lot…!" He then folded his arms across his chest and frowned indetermination.

I grinned at him and said, "Fine, fine, we'll play it your way, Captain Whizz…!" He blinked and then scowled at me. I laughed nervously and said, "Sorry… Forcive habit…"

He still looked a bit angry, but I liked it. I had never seen Brick like this before…! It was definitely a welcome change- totally hot…! I smiled at him, looking him over, before I said in a sort of sing-song voice, "You're certainly large and in charge all of a sudden, Brick-House…"

Brick blinked and blushed slightly. I grinned at his face and then I patted his arm and we walked to the mess hall together. Upon entering, I said jokingly, "Alright, let's get this disgusting joke we call breakfast over with…!"

"We can't!" Cameron shouted, "Chef's not here, and neither is breakfast!"

Lightning stepped forward, saying, "Sorry, Lightning needs meat. M-E… Uh…" I looked at Brick, who was already looking at me, and I just wondered why Lightning was so dumb. "Whatever," Lightning gave up on spelling and continued, "We'll make our own breakfast…"

We all walked into the kitchen and began looking for food. Mike checked the fridge, Zoey the cupboards, and then Lightning suggested the freezer. "Sha-bingo!" he shouted, Meatsickle!" we all rushed inside after him to get food, and instead the door closed behind us and we began moving.

Chef opened up a small slot in the moving freezer and chuckled, "Challenge time suckers…!" Zoey asked where he was taking us and he said, still chuckling, "You'll see…" He closed the slot on his thumb and cried out in pain.

As we rode along, everyone realized just how cold it really was in there except Lightning- still chewing on the frozen ribs… Mike and Zoey huddled together, and I backed into the wall. Brick was next to me, so I slid a little closer to him and he did the same for me. He was warm- thank goodness.

Suddenly we were dumped from the truck, all of us landing in a horrible pile. I pushed my hand back behind me as we fell, and then I felt two metal rectangles under my fingertips- Brick's dog tags! My hand slid to his chest, then his shoulder as we fell, and in my mind I was feeling how toned he was. And Chris immediately began telling us that our challenge was to find a golden Chris statue hidden in a mine we had been dropped near.

Trying to get up took some effort- Brick ended up helping me to my feet and pulled me out from underneath Cameron and Mike. I smiled at him and we all stood in a line- Brick to my left. Lightning then started shouting once Chris finished.

"Sha-done and done! Go team DUDE!" That was it.

I turned on him instantly, pointing in his face and shouting, "Are you sha-blind? I'm not a-!" And then I was crushed by an orange bag that felt like it weighed fifty pounds. Sitting up and seeing everyone had one now, Chris was saying something. "What'd you put in them? Rocks?" I asked angrily.

"Ap, ap, ap, ap, ap! No peeking…!" Chris said, "Those fifty pound bags are purely for your torment, and my amusement…!"

Cameron suddenly whimpered, "Chemical badges? Why do we need to measure our exposure to chemical waste?"

"No reason," Chris replied, "It's just that I rented the mine out to store hazardous material…"

Everyone gasped and Anne Maria began nagging, "Woah, woah, woah…! Are you demented?" It wasn't nagging this time- her question made sense.

Chris said no, and that was why he was in a studio. "Relax, it's perfectly safe," he said after we all groaned, "For thirty minutes. When your badge is green you're in the clear. Orange means you've got fifteen minutes. Red is your five minute warning, and if you see a skull and cross bones… We'll dedicate this episode to you!" He then said, "But no way is it gonna come to that…! I sent Dakota down there for forty minutes and she's gonna be fine…ish…"

Chris yelled at us to move it, then Zoey asked, "Could you at least give us a hint about where to find the statues?"

"Funny story," he said, "The statues have gone missing. Someone, or something down there must've taken them…!"

I heard brick behind me talking and I turned my head to see. "Uh, is it well lit down there?" he asked nervously. I felt bad instantly- Brick's fear of the dark must've been pretty strong if he still hadn't gotten over it…

"It's a mine, bro! Pitch black all the way!" Chris replied happily. I scowled at him as he continued to explain, "There are flashlights and fireflies inside- first come, first serve. Anyhoo, time's a wastin' and so are your healthy blood cells! So go!" he shouted and pointed for us to head inside.

I saw Lightning head off, and I followed, but closer to Brick. I smiled at him and said, "Hey, we've got a light-source, it shouldn't be too bad…"

We caught Lightning inside and he shouted so loudly the roof of the cave above us collapsed. Poking my head out from the rocks, I spat, "Smooth move, Sha-DUH!" I saw the Maggots hop into an elevator and Cameron shouted about the flashlights just before the elevator plummeted down into the mine.

I helped get Brick out of the rocks, and he then helped Lightning. I looked over the ledge and down to where the elevator had fallen. I sighed and said, "That elevator is NOT coming back up…!" Brick was beside me, and I saw him lean forward in sorrow.

Lightning whispered to himself, "I can't lose again… I can't!"

And Brick suddenly said, "I know! We'll shimmy down!" I smiled- that was actually a really good idea; we were all athletic enough for that to work.

I motioned with one hand, saying sweetly, "Leaders first…!"

Brick hopped excitedly onto the cables. He looked down and gulped, and I noticed a jar near us full of fireflies. There was our light source. Brick then said, "Come on! Let's go!" Even though he was terrified, he was still trying to be brave.

I had to do something nice for him- he was so afraid of the dark- and I hated seeing him so scared. I tossed him the firefly jar, saying, "Here! You'll need this!"

He caught it with both hands and said, "Hey, thanks…!" And then he plummeted down.

I gasped and immediately jumped forward over the ledge, looking down into the darkness. I called down in fear, "Brick!"

"Come on, dude!" Lightning shouted, hopping onto the cable, "We gotta win this…!" I nodded and followed him quickly.

When we got the bottom, I heard Brick groan- Lightning landed on top of him… I said, actually being earnest, "Thanks for breakin' our fall…!" I don't think it came out that way, but I was trying. Then suddenly I noticed our fireflies had escaped from their jar.

Lightning groaned, "Aw man…! Nice goin' butterfingers…!"

"Quick!" I shouted, pointing, "We have to catch our light source!" I hopped off the elevator, as did Lightning, and I bent to pick up the jar.

"Wait!" Brick shouted from the metal box. Instantly I looked back at him, worry written all over my face.

I wanted to help Brick- I knew that if I got the light source things would be okay. I didn't want Brick to be scared. Lightning shouted at him, though, causing me to glare at him in rage, "Losers wait! Me and him gotta go! Try and catch up!"

I said before I left, trying to keep things okay between Brick and I, "We'll come back once we've caught the fireflies!"

Brick immediately yelled, "Come back!" And I was so tempted to go running back to him and hold him in my arms and tell him everything was going to be fine, but I knew he needed the light.

Lightning muttered to me, "Hey dude, why're we goin' back for him?"

I growled darkly. Still thought I was a guy… "Because Brick would do the same for us…" And then I heard Brick screaming from behind us and I stopped, gasping for a moment with fear.

"Dude, come on…!" Lightning yelled, still chasing the bugs.

I gazed down the black tunnel and I shouted, hoping Brick could hear me, "I'll be back Brick!"

Then I ran after Lightning and the flies, shouting, "Get your shiny hinies back in this jar!" I then thought. "Lightning, chase the fireflies to me and I'll catch them!" He did and the bugs began biting him, which made me happy. Wanting to leave my Brick behind- I don't think so. Slamming the jar onto his head, I laughed and said, "Lookin' good, Light source!"

We both began walking back the way we came, because I said, "Now we've gotta find Brick."

"But Lightning don't-!" he had begun arguing, and so I snarled at him viciously.

"We're not leaving Brick behind!" And so he listened. As we walked, I said with a grin, "Good thing firefly bites aren't fatal… As far as we know…"

"I hear ya dude!" Lightning said happily.

Scowling, I growled, "I'm not a dude!"

"Man, please…!" he said, "I can SEE you're a dude!" And I glared at him angrily. Then I heard a beep and he gasped, "Your badge! It's orange! You've only got fifteen minutes to live!"

I swallowed and pointed to him, saying, "Well so do you…!"

Lightning hunched over and said, "No. This ain't right…! Man, I've never kissed a superbowl ring!"

I looked down and my mind went to Brick. "And I've never kissed a guy…" I muttered, imagining how terrified Brick must've been lost and alone in the dark… I felt awful now for leaving him, even if we had gone to find light for him.

Lightning stood up and said, "Uh, yeah, it's cool bro. Lightning don't judge…" And I scowled at him again. We walked back into the opening where we fell down and to my horror Brick was gone.

"Brick?" I shouted into the darkness. My voice echoed off the walls, but I heard no response. "BRICK?" I screamed again- fearing the worst. "BRICK!" I ran to the elevator and searched for him. "No…!" I breathed, glancing around in desperation.

Lightning walked over to me and said, "He must've gone after us, let's go sha-find him…!" I looked at lightning, tears welling up in the corners of my eyes, but his plan made sense. I nodded and we both began sprinting back down the pathway again.

"Brick!" I shouted out as we ran.

"Dude, stop," Lightning said, "You're sha-freaking me out with all this."

I swallowed and put on a brave face for Lightning- trying not to show him how worried I really was. As we continued running, Lightning asked, "Man, what's takin' Brick so long to catch up…?"

Frowning, I said, "I know your head is just for show, but haven't you noticed how large and in charge Brick's become?" I was complimenting Brick, but I couldn't let Lightning know- he'd vote me off if he did. "He doesn't need us…!" And when I said that- I actually believed myself. If he went off after us, he surely didn't… "And he'll get rid of you the first chance he gets…!"

Lightning stopped dead. "What? So you wanna make some kind of guys' pact to vote 'im off?"

Walking back to him, I groaned and said, "Sure… Let's make a guys' pact…" Idiot… And then I heard prancing pitter patter, and I saw a giant naked gopher looking thing. And then behind it, I saw Brick.

I was overjoyed when I saw Brick chasing it, laughing happily and taunting, "How do you like it when the boot's on the other foot, huh?"

Turning to Lightning, I pointed out, "Toldya he's too big for his camos…"

And then I turned back, hearing Brick breathing in relief, "Jo…!" There was a slight pause, and Brick sad, "Lightning! Oh, finally…!"

I was so happy to see him, but I was so angry he had left. I told him we'd come back. I told him! How could he scare me like that? Instantly I poked his chest, shouting in anger, "Soldier! Where have you been? You left your men behind!"

Brick smiled at me, his face glowing with pride- and suddenly I was scared again. "I've been engaging the enemy with my secret weapon!" What? He nearly gave me a heart attack to show off his manliness? No! Brick wouldn't do this to- oh my GOD WHAT IS THAT SMELL?

I jumped backwards when I realized it was Brick's boot in my face. It reeked. I didn't understand… Brick was so in charge- had he forgotten about me? He shouted happily, "Victory is ours!" And then suddenly claws grabbed our legs. "Unless they do that…" he muttered before we were dragged down into the earth.

Giant gophers dragged us down into an underground cave and we were left hanging by the horrible bags in their mouths. Anne Maria was down there, and so was Ezekiel. Great… She began yelling about a diamond that was big and I grumbled to her in annoyance, "Congratulations helmet-head. Now tell your freaky boyfriend to let us go!"

Then I heard the familiar scream of Cameron. "Oh great, here comes the competition…" I grumbled.

Brick grinned. "Good. We can use the distraction… FIRE IN THE HOLE!" And he kicked off his other boot. It landed in front of the Mutant Maggots and the gophers ran from them.

I rolled my eyes and sighed irritably. What was wrong with Brick? I liked that he was finally acting like a real man, and I was happy he was over his fear, but he was trying so hard to be macho now that he didn't think things through. Running off when I told him we'd come for him, only to chase gophers and then make them angry, and I had been so worried for him! I had been horrified at the thought of losing him! And all he cared about was showing everyone how manly he was….!

Now I knew how he felt when I always won our races… Now I knew how he felt on a daily basis… I felt terrible, but I was angry at him. I wanted MY Brick back. The one who was so derpy that he was like an adorable little kid…

"Way to help the enemy…" I grumbled, "It looks like it's up to me to get us down…" And I pulled the jar off Lightning's head and the fireflies off his head so that they began to bite the gophers' noses. They quickly dropped us and I immediately yelled at Lightning to get the statue.

"Yes! Rats head for the mine carts! What goes in must come out…!" And Brick and I began running to the carts.

Then I heard Chris's voice over the speaker system. "If you can hear this, congrats, you're not dead yet! I want you to stop wherever you are and immediately discard your bombs- I mean, backpacks…!"

I froze. "Bombs?" I gasped, "Too far McLean! Too far!" I took it off and looked at the dynamite inside. Brick instantly took his off his shoulders and dropped it to the ground.

We ran to the carts again, and I hopped in front with Lightning. Brick was about to climb inside with us- we were all going to be safe, when suddenly Mike's screaming stopped Brick.

He turned to look as Mike struggled to save Zoey and Cameron. I saw instantly. My fear melded into anger and they became as one- no! I wasn't going to lose him like this! Not here! Not now…! "Brick?" I said, then I yelled, "Brick! Forget those rejects, we have to go!" I wanted him to listen. I wanted Brick to be safe…with me. I knew Lightning was looking at me funny, but I didn't care. Please Brick, please listen…!

But he ran to help them, smashing the gopher with the Chris statue. It fell to the ground and he said proudly, "Never leave a man behind."

He tossed Zoey and Cameron into the back cart and he pushed all of them from the back before hopping in himself. We all began speeding down the rails and as we went horribly uncontrollably fast I held Lightning in fear.

And we flew out of the mine's exit, and landed in a mess on the mine carts. Chris announced happily, "And the Maggots win!" I growled angrily, glaring forward, then my gaze fell to Brick. He looked worried- I didn't care. He could've died down there! How could he do that to me? I could've lost him! I know military men lose their lives in battle, but I didn't want to lose him. I couldn't…! Not on this show… I couldn't last with him gone… I hated him. Didn't he ever stop to think his manliness would hurt others? I don't care if he was helping the others! Brick and I had been close since the start! This wasn't right! I'd kill him with my own two hands before I let him die trying to save them!

We all got up off the carts, walking toward Chris, and he blew up the mine. Mike walked to him and said, "This wasn't about the statues!"

"Sure it was…! And as an added bonus you just helped me seal off the toxic waste forever! And get the feds off my back…!" he said, "It's win-win. For me."

We all had lined up, and Brick was behind me, but I focused on Chris. "Oh that's low McLean, even for you…!"

And his response was, "Yeah… I just keep getting better…" And I was surprised. "Rats, hope you're hungry for marshmallows…! But first, before there's permanent genetic damage…" And Chef walked up with a giant fire hose and bombarded us with high-pressured water.

We all flew back, me into what felt like another person. I fell forward, and looked back to find it was Brick. I inhaled sharply and felt tears welling up in my eyes again- I hated feeling like this! I quickly stood up, glaring at him through my blurry vision, and I started marching away from him.

"Jo!" he said, hopping to his feet after me, "Wait up…!"

Clenching my fists by my sides, I growled, "Don't talk to me…"

I was glaring straight ahead, trying everything to keep myself from breaking into tears, and from saying things I knew I'd regret later. But Brick was persistent. "Aw, come on…!" he whined, "I mean, sure I helped the enemy… But that's no reason to be mad and vote me off, ya know…? They're my friends and-…"

My eyes widened to saucer size. The rage and the hurt and the worry boiled to the surface and I couldn't hold it in any longer. "VOTED OFF?" I screamed, turning on him in an instant. Everyone else had stopped where they were and stared at me in terror, but I didn't care. I saw the sheer fear in Brick's eyes as he bit his lip, and I only screamed more. "THAT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT?" I shouted, the tears teetering on the edge of my eyes, "BRICK, YOU COULD'VE DIED!"

"Well, yeah, but so could they…!" he argued, scanning my face, looking confused and scared.

My glare was so hard that I felt my brow bruising. The tears finally came and once they spilled over they wouldn't stop. "DON'T YOU GET IT?" I shrieked, stomping my foot, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD WHEN YOU WEREN'T BACK AT THE ELEVATOR LIKE I TOLD YOU! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN CARE!" I inhaled deeply, not giving him a chance to speak, and I continued, "AND, AND…! WHEN WE WERE DOWN THERE YOU WERE MORE WORRIED ABOUT BEING A MAN THAN YOUR OWN LIFE!"

"But I thought you wanted me to be large and in charge…!" he squeaked.

"BUT I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO COMMIT SUICIDE IN ORDER TO PROVE IT!" I shouted, looking into his eyes, no longer glaring, now just looking utterly pathetic and weak and heartbroken, "I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND YOU JUST KEPT TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF! AND, AND, AND…" I paused, looking at my hands, searching for what I wanted to say next. Once I found it, I wailed, "AND ALL FOR WHAT? SOME KIDS WHO ONLY THINK OF YOU AS A FRIEND? ALL TO IMPRESS A BUNCH OF KIDS WHO DON'T EVEN FEEL THE WAY I DO ABOUT YOU! ALL FOR KIDS WHO DON'T LOVE YOU!"

Brick's eyes widened, and I saw everyone around me gasping and doing the same. I was glaring at him again, sobbing and gasping for my air. "You… You love me…?" he repeated, his unibrow curving down above his eyes- showing sadness. "Jo, I…"

I smacked him across the face. "NO!" I screamed. He looked at me in surprise, touching his face where I had hit him. "I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE YOU TRICK ME INTO FORGIVING YOU! I COULD'VE LOST YOU! YOU WON'T MAKE ME FORGIVE YOU! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO-!"

Brick grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into him. He smashed his lips to mine- cutting off my screams and shouts with a kiss. My eyes widened instantly and I began crying harder; this was something I had wanted so desperately for so long… But this wasn't how I wanted it… I loved Brick more than anything I had ever loved before in my whole life- but I had nearly lost him today, and I felt he was only kissing me now to convince me not to vote him off. Like things would be alright between us… The taste of Brick was wonderfully mind numbing, and his hot breath on my face made me dizzy, but I couldn't take our relationship if this was how it was going to always be… Me yelling and screaming at him constantly, and causing him so much pain that he'll gladly put up with. But if he did one little thing to hurt me I'd freak out and he'd have to find a way to patch things up for us. There would be so many holes covered in duct tape… There already were… I wanted him so bad… So very bad…! But I didn't want to hurt him anymore…

He parted our lips and he looked into my eyes. I gazed up into those deep, dark eyes and I felt a stabbing at my heart. "Jo…" he whispered my name. I swallowed and tried to prepare myself. "Please, Jo, don't vote me off tonight… Things will be alright for us… I'll explain everything to you…"

And that brought all the rage and hurt right back to the surface. There it was again! The Brick that was a man! I knew it was wonderful he was finally a man inside, but…but… I didn't want man-Brick! I wanted kid-Brick! I couldn't do this! I shoved him away from me, and I shouted, "Vote for me, Soggy! I HATE you!" And I saw the look of absolute heartbreak on his face before I turned and ran as fast as I could to the confessionals. I slammed the door shut and began sobbing and screaming.

I didn't know how to feel. I had never dealt with anything like this before. I was angry… but I was desperately in love with Brick… But he had hurt me… And that made me angrier… Every time I thought of him I got angrier. It was finally to the point where I was out of the confessional punching holes in trees.

He didn't care about me. How could he? He had intentionally hurt me! Brick didn't really care! Dawn was wrong…! I hate him! I hate him! I HATE him! He was GONE! I'd get him kicked off this island if it was the last thing I ever did! He would never hurt me again if he wasn't here! The others meant more to him than our friendship…! Brick was too busy worrying about them to realize that I was worrying about him…! I'd kill him!

Once we were called to the campfire ceremony, I walked to the confessional and placed my vote for Brick. I was done with this. Weeks of feeling like a wuss and obsessing over a boy who it turned out didn't even care about me. No more. Not ever again…!

Sitting next to Lightning, Brick off and behind, I scowled angrily at everything. "Rats, one of your sorry butts is going home!" He held up two marshmallows, and said, "The following players are safe… Jo!" And he tossed it to me.

I grinned and caught it, whispering, "Yes!" And then I proceeded to glare at Brick, who was looking at me with his sad puppy dog eyes. I only glared harder.

"And Lightning!" Chris announced. Lightning cheered and nearly choked on the marshmallow. "Brick, the marshmallow of toxic loserdom is yours…"

Brick didn't take the marshmallow. He whimpered, "But I was large ad in charge…!"

"Yeah, helping the enemy…!" Lightning yelled.

I saluted to him in my rage, and I mocked, "So long Soggy-Magee…!" Brick looked at the ground in sorrow.

Lightning left after they dragged Brick away. And I sat, looking the marshmallow over in my hands. Brick hated me. He had voted for me. I know he did. He voted… for… I blinked a couple of times.

Wait… I had received the marshmallow first… that meant… I didn't get any votes…! I immediately jumped to my feet. "Brick didn't vote for me…!" I gasped. My eyes widened in horror and I turned my head to the dock of shame. "No…!"

I began running at top speed. Brick didn't vote for me! He-he… Oh, God, I was so stupid! What was wrong with me? "BRICK!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I sprinted. I could see the catapult. Brick…! "BRICK!" I screamed again, running harder.

So close now. I could make out his form in the wooden seat of the hurl of shame. I had to apologize to him. He hadn't voted for me after everything I did to him…! After all the horrible things I said…! He still…. I reached the dock, shoving Mike, Zoey, and Cameron out of my way.

"Brick?" I shouted, looking around in desperation. He wasn't in the catapult…! I was too late…!

"Jo, Brick's gone," Cameron said softly next to me. I was scanning every board of the dock- I didn't know what to do. I had lost him… I had lost Brick…!

"No…!" I whimpered, falling to my knees and hiding my face in my hands. I cried silently, but I whimpered again to myself, "Brick…! I'm so sorry…!"

"Jo," I heard a voice beside me say, "I know how bad you must be feeling… But I think there's some footage from today's episode you might wanna see…" It was Chris. He took my shoulders and walked me into the tent with all the computer screens and such.

I choked on my own breath and I said to him, "I don't wanna see this…"

"Hey, I understand…" he said, looking genuine for a brief moment before smiling and saying, "And I wanted to make you feel worse…!"

And then Chris started the clips of when we had left Brick alone at the elevator. He was glancing around, whimpering softly, "I am bigger than the dark… I… I am better… than the dark… I… I…" and the light faded to pitch black and I heard Brick shouting, "I am… Lost and alone in the dark!" And he began screaming. Seeing this felt awful- Brick had needed me and I had left him…! And the next clip was set in the pitch black, and I heard Brick whimpering, "Okay Brick, stay calm, you can do this…" And then a strange breathing sound met my ears. All I could see of Brick was his eyes, and they looked scared, but hearing the breathing- they lit up. "Jo, you came back!" he said, sounding so happy I had to bite my lip until it bled to keep from sobbing uncontrollably. Brick asked, "Are you wearing perfume?" He then said in his sweet, always kind voice, "It's strong, but i-it suits you…!" I blushed slightly out of affection, but I continued crying to myself- Brick was always willing to compliment, even in the worst situations. And I wasn't even there to comfort him! The whole time Chris was grinning as he watched my face. And when Brick turned on the flashlight he found, he screamed upon seeing the mutant gopher. My heart lurched as I watched him running away from it at top speed; he was terrified! I wish I hadn't left him alone…! I felt so horrible right now. He had never meant to leave- he didn't have a choice! If I had only been there- then I would have understood… I wouldn't have thought he had intentionally left us… I wouldn't have voted him off… And Chris showed the footage from when Brick found Lightning and I again, and I saw the look of absolutely indescribable joy on his face as he said my name. And I felt even worse.

"Turn it off," I whimpered, hiding my eyes, "I can't take this…!"

Chris chuckled next to me and said, "Wait, we've got one more thing to show you…!"

And when I heard Brick's voice, I tightened my closed eyelids. "I… I don't understand… Jo had said she liked it when I was large and in charge… I… I thought maybe I could impress her a little bit, too…" I looked up and swallowed when I saw him sitting in the confessional. He was staring straight forward- like he was looking right into my eyes. Into my soul. My horribly blackened, putrid, not worthy of his purity soul… "But she said she hated me after I kissed her… After she said she loved me… I… I don't understand…" He was looking down now, looking sad and disappointed. "I really screwed up…" Then he looked back up, and he said calmly, "Jo, if you ever get to see this, I'm sorry…" My eyes widened in horror and the tears poured over my eyes at twice the thickness. He left a message for me…! Oh God- I couldn't do this…! Brick smiled weakly at the camera, "I liked you from the first day here… Actually, before that… I… I saw your audition tape, and… You just seemed so… So intense…" I blushed as I watched his eyes go to the left top corner as he remembered. "I'd never met a girl like you before… And… I didn't know how to tell you that I liked you…" He looked down in disappointment. "I should've told you right from the beginning… Not all this rivalry stuff and all our fights- I should've tried to do something… And now… well… Now it's too late… I messed it all up…" I felt awful.

I sat forward and I whimpered, "No, Brick, I'm sorry…! Please! Please!"

"Well, um… I could never vote for you, Jo… I never have once… So… I really hope you'll understand…" he whispered, "I'm sorry I made you worry and I scared you so bad today… But I really thought this was what you wanted me to do… And now I finally am over my fears… There's nothing I can't do…!" And his face reddened slightly as he finished what he was saying, "Especially if I can have you… I love you, Jo…"

And the confessional cut off, and I jumped forward, shouting, "Brick, no! Come back! Please!" And when the screen remained black, I fell back into the chair Chris had provided and I began sobbing. I looked at him and I asked, "Why would you show me this?"

"Because when girls like you get angry and emotional, ratings get really, really high…!" Chris said with a chuckle.

I scowled at him and I stood up. "Why you," I began, but he pressed a button and a confessional popped up on a screen. It was Lightning.

"Wow, today was weird. First Jo says he wants to kiss guys- freak. And then Brick kisses him…!" he said, "Lightning don't normally judge, but that's just gross…! Thank goodness Mister I-kiss-boys is getting' the boot tonight…! Jo was so sha-crazy mad at him after he kissed him… He probably realized how weird it was. I don't really mind gay guys, but those two… Mm… There's just so much wrong with them… They hate each other all season and suddenly they're makin' out? Lightning doesn't like it. But, at least with Brick gone, Jo's gonna be totally focused and there won't be any more of him freaking out about where Brick is…! Sha-bam!"

I glared deeply at the recording of him. That was it! I'd kill him! Lightning was DEAD! I stomped out of the tent, not before punching Chris in the head, and I stormed to the confessional.

"Alright, that's it. I'm done looking like an idiot. I'm coming clean, right here, right now. Brick-"I looked directly at the camera, "-I love you. More than anything else I've ever loved. I was so self-absorbed that I thought when you had left you had done it to hurt me. I was wrong. I was always wrong. I miss you, and I'll avenge you. Lightning will pay for what he said. And I promise you- I'll try my very best to stay strong for you. Chris, if you don't send this to Brick I will personally hunt you down after I'm eliminated. I can guarantee it. Brick, I'm sorry…"

And I stomped out of the confessional, grinning to myself. I'd be sure to win for Brick. Nobody would know what hit them…

**Well, I want you all to know that in the next chapter, I'm skipping through episodes, only including scenes that I feel would fit the story, until Jo's eliminated… So, um… Yeah… Believe me, I hate myself for the ending as much as you do, I'm sure, but in order to make sense of the show in my head, this made sense. Don't worry, once Jo's eliminated there will be serious, sincere Jock. I swear to it…!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, puttin' this out there. In this chapter, I'm skipping through episodes to scenes I feel would be important in the scheme of Jock. So if you haven't seen them, I'd recommend not reading because it will spoil who's eliminated and who's gonna win and such… WARNING THIS CHAPTER CONATINS STORY SPOILERS. DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT THE SERIES TO BE SPOILED FOR YOU. Got it? Kay… Don't say I didn't warn you. Because I just did.**

**I'm really surprised by the following this story has! Then again, Jock's got an immense following on its own…! Even people who only saw one or two episodes can feel it for them! I mean, they're so obvious! And after the theme video- everyone was definitely suspicious… So maybe it's natural for all things Jock to be popular… Or at least that involving Brick. From all the stuff I've looked at, he and Dawn are pretty much tied for most popular and most liked TDROTI character. Scary…**

**Brick-House-** Chapter Eight- ALL EPISODES UP TO JO'S ELIMINATION

Ever since the cadet was voted off, things have just been weird… I swear Chris is trying to mess with me now, because everywhere I go there's a video of Brick. Like I don't feel guilty enough… This morning he nearly gave me a heart-attack, playing a recording of Brick screaming….! God! Is that in my contract? Death by host… Not the way I envisioned myself going… Lightning was my enemy now- he was constantly joking with me about how Brick was deadweight and such. The blind idiot would pay if it would be the last thing I ever did. Plus he still thought I was a guy…

Chef was concocting weird meals for us ever since Brick left. No more of the gruel the cadet seemed to adore… It only made me miss him more… Tonight's meal was Turkey buttolini… Um… I don't wanna know about the name or where it came from… I didn't eat much, I just ate what I felt would be enough… And then… I don't remember what I did then…

I suddenly woke to a blaring horn and I screamed. Looking around, I found me, Lightning, and the others all floating on rafts in the middle of the water… The horn that had woken us was Brick's alarm clock! I wanted to take it, but then I remembered Scott dropped it in the toilet and I let that thought go.

Looking down, I scowled to find Lightning still sleeping. I hated the jock. I hated him with a passion. So I insulted him by calling him motor-mouth and I kicked him off the raft into the water. I hoped he drowned… But he resurfaced and Chris came to tell us what our challenge was.

Once we had been going for a while on the raft, a giant squid thing came and had grabbed hold of Lightning and I. I had a hold of the sign with the Rats logo on it, and as the monster squeezed my stomach tighter, and idea came into my head. Vengeance…!

I began smacking Lightning as hard as I possibly could. "I won't be some Calamari's dinner!" I shouted, feigning fear. I wasn't aiming for the squid. I was aiming for the annoying face.

"You're hittin' the Lightning!" Lightning shouted to me. I scowled and kept hitting him. I knew very well that I was hitting him. I was trying to. I hope his nose breaks. "Bro!" I scowled harder and hit him harder when he called me that. I wasn't a boy! Brick could see that! Why couldn't this idiot? I hit him harder and harder, no matter how many times he told me to stop. He deserved everything he got. I was angry at him. Was he that blind that he couldn't see I cared about Brick? Maybe you should watch who you insult around me, dumbass!

I'm not really sure how we were freed, all I know is once we were, I was shouting at Lightning again. I hated him. He thought he was better than me. Never.

Chris had put us in shackles, and at one point I saw a giant orange Dakota beating up a mutated alligator. It was amusing. Then Lightning said something about being able to do that too. Smirking, as I saw two alligators swim up behind him, I said, "Oh yeah? Here's your chance…" And I walked away as they attacked him. His life meant nothing to me. Lightning was dead weight. And he accused Brick of being so? Hah! He could hardly do anything right! Sure he was athletic, but he either always failed or was always losing! Some star…

I won the challenge. Right…? Yeah… Dakota just showed up because Sam apparently came back… Oh right, I remember when Chris mentioned that… He had said they were bringing back one of this season's duds and I had nearly choked with eagerness thinking he was going to say Brick… He probably did that on purpose, I'm sure…

That night, as I sat on the steps of the Rat cabin, I frowned when Zoey walked up to me. "What do you want, Red?" I asked, resting my chin on my hand.

She laughed nervously before saying, "Well, uh, we're the last two girls on the island, and all, so I just thought we could talk…"

I blinked. We were the last two girls? Oh gosh… That was a perfect mix… Me, doing everything for myself and kicking butt while she whined for Pointy to help her and begged for Mike to save her at every turn. Pathetic. Exactly what feminists hate. Exactly what I hate.

"No," I spat, glaring at the ground.

"But-!" She began but she stopped herself. She looked at me for a moment before she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Spectacular," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

She sat beside me and I immediately scowled at her darkly. "Jo, you've been acting more Jo-like since…" she stopped and her eyes practically exploded with how they lit up. I waited, knowing what she'd say, and I just hoped it wouldn't hurt to hear someone else notice my emotions. "Since Brick left…!" she whispered. I exhaled slowly- yep. It hurt. She quickly said, "You miss Brick…! That's why you've been pummeling Lightning more than usual!"

I smirked. She saw me beating on the fool, huh? At least not everyone was that blind… But then I frowned again when I saw her smiling. "Yeah, well he's the only one I'll miss," I spat, "When you get voted off, I'll dance on the catapult and throw a toast with Chef…" She gasped and looked hurt. Snarling at her, I growled, "Look, you don't need to be sticking your nose into my business. Stay out of my way and let me worry about what I want to worry about, got it?"

She got up and left me alone. Just the way I needed it. I went to bed not long after- not feeling like going for a run. I never felt like it anymore… Without Brick to race with, well, it just wasn't as appealing… This is probably why I never got emotionally involved before. It makes you weak if you lose the one you're involved with… I hated being weak…

I think the next time I woke up was to the sound of a blow horn. Again… Chris was really crazy about that… And he was shouting something to us before he dropped a giant cube of concrete onto the Maggots' cabin. I found that amusing. Better them than me… I think I said that to Lightning at one point. Chris said the teams were dissolving. And even though I detested the dolt lifting dumbbells I knew I'd need his strength to abuse it… So when String Bean offered to make an alliance with me, I turned him down.

I was standing off near my cabin, picking at a scab on my hand, when I had heard Mike talking. It wasn't him that interested me, it was one specific word I heard come out of his mouth that made me listen. Really listen. He was talking to Zoey, who was trying to get her clothes back from the concrete, "I found a pair of Brick's boots if you want…" Brick…! That was the word!

The smell of the boots made Zoey pass out, and of course Mike caught her. Naturally. The damsel in constant distress who can't do anything for herself. Wonderful… Now if only I could take those boots without them reeking as bad as they do… I'm sure Bubble Boy has odor block spray or something…

When I asked, sure enough, he had three different kinds. I took one at random and climbed onto the cabin, sprayed the black boots, and once the stench was gone, I nuzzled them close to me. Anything to remind me of Brick was welcome at this point. I'd even settle to get that alarm clock! Hopping down from the cabin roof, I tossed the spray back to Cameron and I set Brick's boots in my side of the only remaining cabin. Zoey was already getting comfortable and she stared at me when she saw me with the boots, but I ignored her and walked back out.

The challenge today involved a lot of weird graffiti… I used Lightning to my advantage as often as I could, but once I saw a chance to kill him, I took it. Chef had trapped us in a jail cell, and once he had bent open the bars, I shoved him out into the waiting jaws of Fang and I ran. I hoped that the shark would eat him.

But when I was continuing on, driving in one of Chef's crappy go-carts… That kept braking for no reason whatsoever… I smelled something… It was gross…sweaty…masculine… "If I didn't know better, I'd say that smells like…" Brick… That's what I was thinking of, but when I turned my head, I said, "Testosterone! NO!" And Lightning sped past me on a fully functional go-cart… Of course…

When we were eliminating, I knew Lightning hated me. But Scott got to choose who went, and he chose Mike. Haha. Lightning shouted to eliminate "Jo, he's a rat" in his exact words. I was nervous, but I was more angry after. First I worried I was really going, then I worried I wouldn't be able to get Brick's boots, then I was angry he called me a he… Lightning is an idiot. And I hate him. I hope he's eliminated next…

Once Zoey said her goodbyes to Mike, I saw her come into the cabinside looking dejected and miserable. I actually felt bad- I knew how she felt. And I hated knowing how she felt.

"Suck it up," I said to her coldly. She looked at me, looking hurt, and I quickly said, "All you have to remember is that the one who caused you to lose Mike is Scott. Just get your revenge. Otherwise he'll pick you off next…"

"But…!" she mumbled, looking down.

I grumbled to her in annoyance, "Hey, I didn't even get to say goodbye to Brick, but I've survived another two episodes without him so far… You got to see Mike off. That's more than I got, so if you sit here and pity yourself, I'll be sure to vote you off…" And with that, Zoey looked sad yet determined. Just what I needed. Someone who would be brooding over revenge in total silence.

The next challenge we had was a few days later, and Chris had us building flying machines. Crap… I immediately got Cameron and had him doing all of my work for me. And we met Heather today! Fantastic! A ruthless competitor! Just what I need with no Brick to compete with! Cameron won a prize, go figure… And even though I tried sabotaging Lightning's crap, he still ended up doing pretty well in all this… After I took Cameron's prize from him, it blew up in my face. And I fell into the water… I forget who won… I didn't care; I was too busy laughing as Fang tried to eat Scott again. That shark really has a taste for the ginger.

Back on the island, I almost knew immediately that I'd be going tonight. I grabbed my whistle from the cabin, and I tucked Brick's boots into the pocket of my sweater. The rest of my belongings didn't matter. And besides, I might not be going… You never know…

When Chris said my name for the toxic marshmallow, I was angry and I was yelling. I yelled at Cameron, but he made me realize I was gone because I had taught him too well and that made me proud. But then I focused my attention to Lightning. "You! You're an idiot!" I spat, "You couldn't even tell I was a GIRL!"

His response? "YOU'RE a WHAT?" Go figure….

I was flung across the sky because of the catapult, and once I hit the water, I made sure I still had my whistle around my neck and Brick's boots in my pocket. And as soon as I was reassured, I began swimming toward a faint glow not far off. It was an island! It looked like a resort, but only a few lights were on. I climbed onto the dock there and gasped for my air as I shivered and felt goose-bumps under my sweater.

"Greetings Jo," I heard a soft voice above me say.

Looking up in surprise, I felt my jaw drop when I saw Dawn standing there. "Dawn?" I gasped, "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, we're all here," she said with a soft smile, "This is Playa de Losers. Oh, Brick will be so happy to hear you've finally arrived! I knew my tea-leaves were right. They said you'd be coming tonight! Oh how wondrous!" She had started floating away, but I grabbed her leg before she got far.

"Wait," I pleaded, "Don't tell Brick I'm here just yet…!" She looked confused, but I quickly said with a smile, "I wanna surprise him…" She smiled and nodded before floating off into the resort. I found a nice clump of trees and bushes to hide amongst, and I let the warm, moist air dry my clothes through the night until morning. I woke once the sun rose, and I sat and waited for the other eliminated competitors to come outside.

Not surprising, Brick was one of the very first up and outside. He was followed by Dawn, B, and Staci. Dawn asked with a soft smile, "Are you going on your morning run, Brick?"

She was facing my tree-clump, and I smiled when I saw Brick's back to me. Sam and Dakota were walking over to where the group had gathered, along with Anne Maria, who was spraying her hair as usual. Brick spoke to Dawn, and I seized my moment to sneak out of the bushes and stand behind him. The others were all staring directly at me, a few with gaping mouths, but I was grinning too much with my plan about to unfold.

"I always go on my runs, Dawn, you know tha-…" Brick had been saying when I blew my whistle as loudly as I possibly could.

"TEN HUT!" I shouted in my most drill-sergeant like voice.

Brick quickly saluted and shouted, "Sir! Yes, si-…!" But his voice trailed off. I grinned even more so now- he knew the voice. Three…two…one. He turned around and came face to face with me. His instant reaction was hugging. His arms around my waist, lifting me into the air while he jumped up and down and spun around like a giddy idiot, shouting breathlessly, "JO!"

I only laughed as he displayed his affection. Once he set me back down, he quickly began spluttering excitedly, "I missed you so much! I'm so glad you're here!" I raised an eyebrow at him, smirking knowingly at his mistake, and he blinked once he realized it. "N-no! W-wait, that's not what I meant!" he quickly stammered, "I w-would have loved for you to win! I'm sad you got voted off! Y-you should've won! You earned it! I didn't mean I was happy that you lost, I just-!"

"BRICK!" I cut him off, shouting at the top of my lungs and making my face harden.

He flinched and immediately squeaked, "Yes?" I could hardly keep myself from laughing at his adorable frightened face. He thought I was mad…! Oh, Brick…!

I smiled sweetly at him and I said, "Stop talking." Just before I wrapped my arms around him and put my lips to his. He reacted quickly, holding me tightly with his strong arms, and kissing back. This was wonderful- this was how our first kiss should have been, soft, sweet, passionate, full of love and happiness.

Our lips parted and Brick whispered, "I really missed you…"

Smiling into his deep black eyes, I replied, "I missed you too, Brick-House… I got your message…"

"I got yours too," he said with his incredible smile.

Dawn quickly interrupted our love-fest and said, "I assured you that Brick wouldn't hurt you on purpose Jo."

I looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, you were right, gypsy… Sorry," I said. I greeted everyone else there, and Anne Maria asked where Mike was hiding. I hadn't seen him yet, but I had a feeling Pointy was depressed over Red…

"Dawn, you know where he is?" I asked, still keeping one arm around Brick while I asked. Brick had one arm around me as well, and it felt perfect.

"He's in the living room inside," she said.

Brick asked me curiously, "Why do you need to see Mike?" I smirked at him before pulling his boots out of my pocket and handing them to him. He immediately forgot his curiosity and was overjoyed to see one of his pairs of boots survived the island.

And as he obsessed over his beloved shoes, I went inside and found Mike poking at the fireplace. He looked sad. I walked over to him and sat next to him at the fireplace. He looked surprised to see me and he asked, making sure I was real, "Jo?"

"In the flesh," I said.

"What do you want?" he asked, going back to the fireplace.

Rolling my eyes at his sorrow, I said, "Look, I'm not very good at the sappy crap, but seeing me here should let you know one thing. Zoey's still in the game…" His head lifted up and I knew that he was listening now, "She's going after Scott now, I think… She's pretty angry at him for voting you off, but I can't blame her… If he's next to show up here, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. Anyway, I just thought you should know that she's doing fine without you there saving her butt every two seconds, so…" And I got up and began walking away.

"Jo," I heard him say my name and I turned to look at him blankly. "Thanks," he said, looking slightly happy. I just nodded and went back outside and smacked the back of Brick's head before giving him a hug.

Brick wasn't confused by my behavior- this was how I was. Once we were alone, he punched my arm playfully and said he'd beat me in any race any time. I told him he was dead wrong and smiled at him. Who said rivals can't be lovers?

"Your message was really sweet," Brick said at one point, while I was fixing my shoe- untied… I looked up at him and blushed upon seeing the look on his face; completely and utterly love-struck.

My whole face going red, I replied, "Yours was sweeter…" Then my blush faded as I said something I needed to say in person. "Brick, I'm sorry I was so horrible to you during that last challenge… I should've just told you that I liked you and then we wouldn't have had that fight…"

He looked at me, his face going blank, and I hoped he wouldn't be anything but Brick at that moment. "It's okay," he said gently. I loved him- so sweet no matter what!

"But you were nothing but nice to me! Even after I was so horrible to you!" I argued, turning more towards him.

He smiled. "If you were any different I would've known something was wrong with you…" he said in a voice like silk. My entire face went hot- Brick's smile grew. "I saw your audition," he continued, "I knew from the first challenge that you were tough. If you had ever been tender with me on that island when it was obvious in you audition tape that you were determined, I'd know something was up with you." He tilted his head slightly and said, "I like your intensity. It's very unique to you… It's very… Jo… And if you had lost that intensity, well…" He paused, moving closer to me and taking my hand. "Well you just wouldn't have been Jo…"

I couldn't take the sentimentality of the moment. I kissed him instantly- and I held him so tight that he wouldn't have been able to get away from me if he wanted to, but judging from the passionate kissing back, I had a feeling he didn't want to.

Once the kiss ended, I smiled at him and whispered, "Hey Brick…"

"Hm?" he responded, nuzzling his chin into my head.

"Betcha I can beat you in a race around the island back to this spot," I said.

He moved to look at me and he grinned. "You're on," he said before we each hopped to our feet and began sprinting. This was how it should be. Us racing around the island, having fun together. Everything was right in the world.

**Please note, this is not the ending. The ending will be the final episode. Which, again, has spoilers… So please, if you haven't seen it, don't read… Or, if you do read, don't whine to me about spoiling the show. I warned you. So there…**

**One more chapter of Brick-House! Unless you guys really want this in Brick's perspective… Then I might be continuing on with the Jock love from the masculine Cadet's mind! (I kinda want to already…!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well… This is the finale of Brick-House… (The finale episode…) If you haven't seen it yet, please don't read. I don't want to have people complaining that I spoiled everything when they could very well have just not read in the first place.**

**WARNING. THIS EPISODE OF BRICK-HOUSE CONTAINS SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINALE (either ending) OR THE EPISODES PREVIOUS TO IT, THEN DON'T READ BECAUSE IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING FOR YOU. ALRIGHT? I'M GOING TO GO WITH MY FAVORITE WINNING SCENE, SO THAT MEANS I WILL BE MENTIONING WHO WINS A LOT. IN A FEW SECONDS, ACTUALLY. **

**AGAIN. If you haven't seen any finale DO NOT READ. THANK YOU.**

**I'm going with Cameron's winning. If you saw Lightning win, that's tough. I like when Cameron wins better because there's more options for Jock, in my personal opinion. So, I like it this way. You want Lightning's ending? You'll never get it.**

**Oh, and if readers truly do want more of this in Brick's perspective, please let me know now, because otherwise, I might just not do it… (Or I might type it and not post it to a website…)**

**Brick-House-** Finale Episode

Things had been going really well for everyone back at Playa de Losers. Zoey was back, and Mike was no longer moping about inside. Dawn kept telling us what her tea leaves said every morning, apparently one morning they said that someone had been injured terribly… It was just before Zoey came here, so I assume it was someone else… Maybe Scott, because I had yet to see him and today we were being boated to the island again for the finale. I heard it was Sha-Idiot and Bubble Boy… How this had happened, I'll never know… But it did, and now I had to go and watch… Chris said we were the peanut gallery. I hope it was a voting thing once again, because I seriously wouldn't want Lightning walking out of here with that money… Maybe Bubble Boy… Maybe…

"Jo, you okay?" Brick asked, walking next to me as Chef led us through a path in the woods. He was holding my hand, which I was okay with. I wouldn't exactly say I was being a hypocrite about lovey-dovey stuff, because Brick and I were no longer awkward around each other, and we only got mushy when we were ether completely alone or we didn't realize we weren't. We really should have just confessed to each other right from the start- so many fights would have been avoided, and I realized now that if we had I wouldn't have been anywhere near as romantic and gushy or awkward. It's strange; nervous and uncomfortable about love until it happens and then it's like we're two peas in a pod. Brick and I were completely comfortable around each other now…!

I smiled gently at him and replied, "Not too pleased with the final two, but I guess I'm fine…"

His expression softened and he said, "You were too big of a threat for them to not vote you off eventually, Jo…"

Looking away, I mumbled, "I know… I'm awesome…" Brick gave me a funny look when I said that and I just smirked. Once he saw that he smiled- he knew I was being me and I was fooling with him. Yeah, I still picked on Dampy-Pants, but he was my boyfriend and my rival now- I had a right to!

Chef sat us all in a bleacher thing inside a giant coliseum, Brick and I sitting next to each other as usual… Mike and Zoey were all snuggly and holding hands while they gazed into each other's eyes; I guess I couldn't really hate them for it now, could I…? But in a way, I still did. Brick and I weren't all cute and adorably in love like they were; we were in love, sure, but… We were also rivals… and Brick knew how competitive I was by nature, and he knew I wasn't the type to sit around sucking face all day long. I don't particularly think he's the type who would do that either- being a cadet and all he probably had learned to restrain himself and he had boundaries of his own… Plus, after all of our fights separate, I think if either of us got too clingy those fights would happen again while we were together…

Gosh, I was really getting lost in my thoughts! I saw Chris come into the coliseum with Bubble Boy and Blind Jock-Head on a chariot I guess, and he was wearing a robe… Um… I remember him wearing weird outfits all throughout the previous season, but I had never seen them in person… It was honestly a little bit creepy… Although, if maybe that were a professional model or someone wearing that robe, I might not mind… That Justin guy from the first two seasons was definitely eye candy… He'd probably fill out that robe better than Chris ever could…! I glanced at Brick and then I smirked to myself- he'd never wear something like that, so why even imagine it?

Chris introduced all of us, Scott apparently had been eaten alive by Fang, and he told us we had to cheer one of the final two. Immediately I wasn't happy about that option. Sam spoke up first, "Do I really have to cheer for Lightning? No offense, but you weren't exactly the nicest teammate ever…" he said.

I then voiced my opinion, my Brick-House looking at me as I did, "Well I'm not cheering for either Jock-Strap or Bubble Boy!"

And then Chris dashed me instantly, by saying, "Oh, I think you will cheer. If you don't, I'll be forced to unleash HIM." He pressed a button and Fang rose out into the bleachers… Right next to Scott. And then Chris asked, "Sooo…?"

Growling and rolling my eyes, I grumbled lowly, "Go Lightning…" Brick smiled comfortingly to me and I looked to him for help. He always knew how to be kind and make the right choice…

"Jo, don't be so angry at Lightning. Cheer for him with gusto… After all, if you don't want Cameron to win, who could blame you…?" he spoke, offering up his wonderful advice. I smiled at him and nodded. Maybe the grudge against Jockstrap was a little bit stupid…

So as Lightning began gathering supplies to build with, I began cheering excitedly. The final battle was a gladiator match! That was so exciting! I saw a manikin leg and shouted, "Oh, grab that! And that manikin leg! It'll make a great club!" Brick cheered for Cameron beside me, understandably, and then Sam spoke to me.

"He has to build armor, too," he said.

Frowning, I pointedly asked, "To protect him from what? That?" And I pointed to Cameron, who was picking up a computer… Oh, nerd…

"Oh, my bad…" he grumbled in defeat. Even in verbal arguments like that I won. Ha-ha. Excellent. But that wasn't the fight that had to be won. I sat back and cheered as I watched the boys preparing for battle. There definitely were a few times where I thought I should stop cheering for Lightning- when he hit himself with a frying pan, for instance… And when he shot a canon into himself… He really is an idiot, isn't he?

As the fighting went on, and I saw Lightning pummeling Bubble Boy, I did cheer, and I saw some frowns from others. Whatever. I wasn't cheering for some nerd… At least Lightning had physical prowess… What did Cameron have…? A big head… This was Total Drama; you HAD to be physical if you wanted to win!

I guess things didn't happen quite as they should have- Cameron fired a laser up into the bleachers and destroyed a remote Chris had that was releasing monsters. At that point, all hell broke loose. There were all sorts of terrifying things everywhere! A giant Venus flytrap, laser squirrels, mutant gophers, Fang, Ezekiel, everything! We all ran out of the bleachers in terror as the flytrap struck at us with giant vines. Brick ran beside me, but unfortunately we didn't get very far before we were cornered, along with Mike and Zoey and Staci. Brick remained by my side, he kept trying to get in front of me, being the gentleman he is, and the wonderful person he is. Brick tried to protect me from the giant beast, but it's hard to protect someone from something that can and will eat you. The beast's vine grabbed hold of us and pulled us up into the air. Both Brick and I were screaming, and my fear only grew when the flytrap ate Staci. Brick tried to hold onto me, but it was impossible to move. He just kept shouting to me not to be scared before screaming himself. I was screaming too, I'm not going to deny that. I was terrified.

And then just like that, we were freed. Cameron had shot the flytrap and it let us go. I hopped to my feet with Brick and cheered happily. I now knew that I was right earlier- no more cheering for Lightning. Cameron had saved our lives. Brick hugged me immediately and asked if I was okay. "Jarhead, stop worrying about me and move!" I shouted at him before grabbing his wrist and hurrying the two of us away to a safer spot. One with less laser squirrels…

"But you are alright, aren't you?" he asked as we ran.

"Brick, shut up and run!" I shouted, pulling harder on his wrist and forcing him to do so. After a little while, the monsters had been forced away or killed, and then we all gathered around as we saw Lightning beating the crap out of Cameron in his Iron-Man suit… Even I was cringing and gasped with every hit to the tiny Bubble Boy. I may be ruthless, but even I know that's just taking it too far…

Cameron's suit suddenly lit up at one point, and I thought something super exciting was going to happen, but nothing really did… I think… Oh, wait, he said he turned Lightning into a giant magnet. Cool. And then he got struck by Lightning. Lightning got struck by Lightning- the irony is incredible!

And the fool fell to the ground in pain. Leaving Cameron the opportunity to pin him. Mike had to remind him, but he did anyhow. He fell on top of Lightning, and we all counted down from three to one. Cameron won.

Chris quickly sent us to fill in the boat. He didn't waste any time with that, now did he? Brick walked beside me, smiling. I knew he was happy for Cameron, even I was! The little guy earned it… We all gathered on the boat, Brick and I right beside each other as always.

Once Cameron showed up with the money, Anne Maria asked him what he was going to spend it on. We were all curious… "Well, actually, seeing as how I finished without any life threatening injuries, I don't need to go back to my bubble ever again! So, I thought I'd spend it all on you guys!" he said excitedly.

I couldn't believe it! None of the other contestants had ever shared before! Sam beside me shouted, "Hello collection of every videogame ever made!"

I shouted, pumping my fist, "I can finally open my dream gym!"

"Fashion school, here I come!" I blinked and turned in shock toward Brick. He had shouted it, and was still holding his hands in the air. He saw everyone staring at him, and he looked directly at me, folding his arms and saying proudly, "Yeah, you heard me…"

I looked him over for a second before I said, "Ah, whatever…" And I wrapped my arms around the knucklehead and gave him the biggest hug. "You can do whatever you want, Brick-House, so long as you don't go soft on me!"

Brick blushed, kissed my forehead, and whispered, "Hey, look, quick, Chef's got a surprise for everyone…" I stood straight and faced the island, where I saw the dock below Chris blow up and send him straight into the water. That was perfect! Everyone on the boat laughed hysterically. He earned that. And then to make the vengeance even better- Chris was quarantined and men in hazmat suits began scrubbing him down. I couldn't stop laughing. This was priceless!

"Hey Soggy-Drawers, you think we'll get another season?" I asked, turning back to my boyfriend with a grin.

He blinked at the nickname, but he quickly grinned at me, almost…mischievously… I began asking, "Bri-…?" When I got cut off by a pair of wonderful Brick lips meeting my own. I was pleasantly surprised, everyone else was shocked and/or disgusted unless they were Dawn or Zoey, and I quickly began kissing him back. Heck, maybe we'd last together as a couple all next season!

**Yes, there is going to be another season. Tom McGillis has confirmed that much… He said it's going to be like seasons 1 and 4… Sooo… We can all hope for actual Jock! Please, as this is the finale (unless people want Bricky…) I need to restate the obvious now. I don't own the characters, or the story, or the episodes, or the titles. And this is not exactly how the show happened. This is just how I wanted the JoXBrick to play out. I know you're all smart enough to realize this, but when that fifth season comes out and if they're in it and not a couple from the start, I don't want people bashing me and saying I was wrong. This is just how I desperately wanted it, okay? Thank you. I hope you all enjoyed this saga of Brick-House!**

**Oh, but one final thing… I do want to put the romantic reasoning for why Jo calls Brick by the name Chris gave him in the first episode….**

**Brick is aptly named, according to Jo. He is a wall of muscle that does not crumble and stands tall. With his flaws, he is a lone Brick that has strength and is sturdy. When Brick cares for someone and forms a bond with someone, he becomes more than strong. He becomes an invincible force who's willing to lay down his own life for the ones he loves. He protects what he holds dear inside his heart. Wrapping them in his strong, powerful, loyal, and unbreakable embrace. When Brick shows his true colors and his kindness, Brick becomes a house of Brick that cannot crumble and will not falter for anything as long as it takes to keep what he loves safe. Brick is Jo's Brick-House because he will not ever let anything hurt her as long as he is around. If a wolf comes a-blowin' and tries to huff and puff and take away his little piggy-Jo away from him, he'll stand firm and keep her safe.**

**And that kids, is why you never let me think on nicknames… Or pairings…**


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